Introduction to open access – online seminar 2026

The rise of open access and associated compliance requirements has created an increasing role for librarians in supporting pre-publication workflows for journal articles and other research outputs. It has also led research institutions to develop a widening range of services and systems to support publication and manage compliance. This online event is hosted over 2 half days.


When

Tuesday 20th October 2026 – 10:00 GMT
to
Wednesday 21st October 2026 – 13:00 GMT

Where

Online
United Kingdom


About the Event


Click here
 to register

UKSG membership rate: £70+VAT

Non-membership rate: £82.00+VAT

Details of membership can be found at  https://www.uksg.org/join


The rise of open access and associated compliance requirements has created an increasing role for librarians and other information professionals in supporting pre-publication workflows for research outputs. It has also led research institutions to develop a widening range of services and systems to support publication and manage compliance.  
 
This course will give a basic introduction to this rapidly evolving area. In particular it will:

  • explain how new policies and initiatives (eg Right Retention) are continuing to affect open access publishing and compliance requirements 
  • provide an overview of the research and funding landscape 
  • outline the key stages in the open access publication lifecycle from submission to publication, noting the key differences between Green and Gold publication
  • summarise the typical requirements for compliance with government policies and funder mandates, and relate these to the publication routes for Green and Gold publication
  • explain the complementary roles of publishers, libraries and intermediaries in supporting these stages, and the typical activities that they each perform during the life-cycle
  • give focus to the specific challenges and opportunities associated with open access publishing for books and book chapters. 
  • look at selected services, systems and standards designed to support and manage the processes of open access publishing

This course offers an introductory, entry-level overview and no previous knowledge is required, although some awareness of the different types of scholarly journals and open access models (such as Green and Gold) may be useful.   
 
Please note that this is not a detailed practical or technical course and it will not go into detail about how specific services or systems function, or how to optimise workflows. Instead the course gives a high-level, introductory overview of the essential elements of processes and systems, providing the conceptual foundation for other more specific training in the use of particular services and systems.   


Delegates will: 

  • Understand the key stages in publication in relation to open access and compliance  
  • Be able to summarise typical compliance criteria, and relate these to the publication lifecycle   
  • Understand the basic roles of funders, research managers, libraries, publishers, intermediaries at each stage of the publishing journey
  • Be aware of the key services and systems which support workflows
  • Be aware of the application of open access publishing workflows across different research output types

This will be sent to registered delegates in advance of the seminar. The course organisers have compiled an optional Open Access pre-Course Reading List for attendees – all items will be openly available.  


The webinar tool we use is Go to Webinar. To test your system ahead of time visit https://support.goto.com/webinar/system-check-attendee


UKSG wants to provide the best possible experience for all our delegates, making presentations as accessible and inclusive as possible.

Our intention were possible is to strongly encourage our speakers to provide auto generated closed captioning for both live and recorded events as well as to make sure their slides as easy as possible for all people to read. In addition we can provide auto generated transcripts post event for each of the recorded sessions.

If you have particular accessibility needs or questions about this seminar/webinar, we welcome you to contact events@uksg.org


The sessions will be recorded and available to all registered delegates only after the event, so if you unable to join us live or want to review any presentation this will be available. 

Programme

  • Day 1 – Tuesday 20th October
  • Day 2 – Wednesday 21st October

Time

Programme

Speakers

10:00

Welcome to day 1 & Introduction to OA

All times stated are GMT

See Biography

TBC


10:20

Overview of Gold OA

This session will provide an introduction to Gold Open Access and publishing open access (OA) more generally. It will give participants an opportunity to learn about/discover:

• The current open access landscape and more specifically, Gold OA
• Differences between Green, Gold, and Diamond OA
• OA preprints
• Licensing and OA
• Article Processing Charges and waivers
• Advantages and disadvantages
• Where to locate OA journals

Jisc

See Biography

Martin Whiteford is an Associate Licensing Manager at Jisc – a not-for-profit organisation that provides digital, data and technology solutions to the UK education and skills sectors. Prior to taking up his current position, Martin worked in academic publishing where (among other things) he was responsible for the design and implementation of a Gold Open Access journal. Before this, Martin spent over a decade working in academia in the field of inclusion health. Martin’s research has been published widely and across a variety of journal models. He also has experience of serving as an editor of a hybrid peer-reviewed journal.


11.00

Break


11:15

An Early Career Researchers’ Perspective

See Biography

TBC

University of York

See Biography
Luqman Muraina started the Global Development PhD programme at the IGDC, University of York in 2023 and completed the MA Sociology degree at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 2022 with funding from the Mastercard Foundation and completed the B.Sc. Sociology degree from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria.
He has over three years of teaching and research assistantship experience and is currently engaged as a Graduate Engagement Lead for Open Research at the York university’s library, where he supports the university’s commitment towards Open Research as a default research practice. He researches on decolonization and politics of knowledge, higher education, African politics & development, Black feminism, etc.

11:55

A Funders Perspective

Coalition S

See Biography
TBC

12:35

This presentation offers a library perspective on Open Access, reflecting on how libraries have grappled with an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving scholarly communications landscape. Drawing on experiences from a smaller teaching-focused university, I will explore the practical realities of engaging with and supporting researchers, navigating publisher agreements, and compiling with funder requirements with limited resources. The session will examine the challenges, lessons learned, and emerging opportunities for libraries as they continue to adapt their services and advocacy in support of open scholarship.

University of Worcester

See Biography

Sharon Stevens has worked across academic, health and not-for-profit library sectors in both the UK and Canada. She is currently the Head of Open Scholarship and Content at the University of Worcester. Throughout her career, she has led and supported services relating to scholarly communications, open access, collections, and research support, helping to improve access to knowledge and advance open scholarship practices. Sharon is a member of the SCONUL Content Strategy Group and has a particular interest in the development of sustainable, equitable approaches to scholarly publishing and content provision.

13.15

Close

Time

Programme

Speakers

10:00

Welcome to day 2


10:05

An Overview of Diamond

Stockholm University

See Biography

TBC


10:45

Overview of Green OA


11:25

Break


11:40

Opening Up Scholarship: The Publisher’s Role in Open Access

Open Access is reshaping scholarly publishing, but the transition looks different across disciplines, regions and publication formats. From the perspective of a medium-sized HSS publisher, this presentation explores what it takes to make Open Access work in practice. Drawing on our experience with a range of OA models for journals and books, it will consider the opportunities and tensions we encounter: from sustainable funding and equitable participation to the changing relationships between publishers, libraries, researchers and funders.

De Gruyter Brill

See Biography

Stephanie Veldman is Director of Open Research at De Gruyter Brill, where she leads the publisher’s Open Access strategy across books and journals. She has worked in academic publishing for more than 15 years, with a particular focus on Open Access, business development and strategic partnerships. Her work spans a range of OA models, from Subscribe to Open and transformative agreements to Gold and Diamond Open Access. She is particularly interested in developing sustainable and inclusive approaches to Open Access that work across disciplines and bring publishers, libraries and researchers together.


12:20

Open Access for Books: Beyond the Book Processing Charge

This introduction to open access (OA) for books will explore how OA for books is developing today, with a particular focus on community-led, non-commercial approaches. We will give an overview of the breadth of activity currently taking place in the OA books world, including experimentation with Diamond models, scholar-led publishing and the rise of institutional OA presses best exemplified by the Open Institutional Publishing Association. We will reflect on our individual roles with the Copim community, and explore how infrastructures such as the Open Book Collective and ideas like ‘scaling small’ can expand opportunities to publish open access books in equitable ways. Attendees will leave with a greater understanding of how OA for books really works in practice, and information about where they can go to learn more.

Open Book Collective

See Biography

TBC

Open Book Publishers

See Biography

Lucy Barnes is Senior Editor and Outreach Coordinator at Open Book Publishers, a leading non-profit, scholar-led Open Access book publisher based in Cambridge, UK. She also works on outreach for the Copim community and is on the board of the ScholarLed collective. She coordinates the Open Access Books Network (oabooksnetwork.org) in collaboration with OPERAS and SPARC Europe, and she is on the Editorial Advisory Board for the OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit. You can find her on Bluesky @alittleroad.bsky.social. 


13:00

Close

Feedback

Very informative and interesting sessions.

Previous delegate

I really liked the variety of speakers, each bringing their own perspectives to the Open Access landscape. It think it was commendable to include speakers from publishing companies – good to have a balanced view. 

Previous delegate

Really informative and a broad range of perspectives which help provide an overview of the key themes and terms used in discussions about the opportunities, challenges and broader context of the state of academic publishing and open access.

Previous delegate

£ 70.00

+14.00 VAT

£ 82.00

+16.40 VAT

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