Open Access Week: Expanding access to knowledge and research
From research articles and educational resources to data and scholarship, open access helps knowledge reach further. Open Access Week is an opportunity to reflect on the value of making knowledge more accessible and to explore how open practices can strengthen the impact of research, teaching and learning.
Open access makes scholarly knowledge freely available online, removing barriers that can limit who can access, use and build upon research. For researchers, it creates opportunities for broader visibility and engagement. For students, educators, policymakers, industry and community organizations, it provides access to knowledge that can inform learning, decision-making and innovation.
At University of Waterloo Libraries, supporting open access is a key part of advancing research and learning. “Open access extends the public value of research by helping it reach the people and communities who can use it to make a difference,” says University Librarian, Beth Namachchivaya. “Academic libraries play an important role in advancing this work by supporting open scholarship and helping researchers share their findings more broadly."
"When scholarship is open, its impact can extend beyond academia into policy, practice and innovation that help address society’s most pressing challenges.”
Advancing research impact
Research has the greatest potential impact when it can be discovered, understood and used by a broad audience.
For researchers, open access can help increase the visibility their work. By making research easier to discover and access, it can connect scholars with broader audiences and amplify the impact of their contributions. Whether informing public policy, advancing professional practice or supporting community initiatives, open access helps bridge the gap between research and real-world impact.
At Waterloo, the Libraries supports open research throughout the research lifecycle, from helping researchers work with open data and share research datasets on Borealis, Waterloo’s dataverse repository, to publishing articles openly and preserving scholarly outputs in UWSpace. Together, these services help researchers increase the accessibility and reach of their work.
Supporting open education
Open educational resources (OERs) provide a more accessible alternative to commercial textbooks, helping reduce costs for students while increasing access course materials. They also give instructors greater flexibility to adapt and customize content to meet teaching and learning needs.
The Libraries supports the creation and adoption of open educational resources through the Staebler Insurance OER Fellows Grant, which helps instructors create, adapt or adopt open educational resources for their courses. The next grant competition for the 2027/28 academic year will open on December 7, 2026.
Open access strengthens the reach of research, expands opportunities for learning and helps ensure knowledge can be shared as widely as possible.
Celebrate Open Access Week with us
Join us at our Open Access Week events and learn more about how openness supports discovery, collaboration and innovation across the University of Waterloo community.
Interested in practical ways to make your research more open? Read our companion article, From open data to open publishing: How the Libraries supports open research, to explore the tools, services and expertise available through the Libraries.