Open access Journal of Southern Religion adopts Creative Commons Attribution license <http://wp.me/p20y83-q5> Earlier this month, the long-time online open access Journal of Southern Religion (ISSN: 1094-5253) began releasing its content under a Creative Commons Attribution license. The announcement can be found on the JSR blog here. If JSR was already an open access journal, what is the significance of this development? Gratis and libre open access
The JSR announcement gives me an opportunity to distinguish between two general concepts of open or "free" access to online academic literature. The distinguishing terms usually applied in this discussion are gratis and libre. Gratis is related to the word "grace," often connoting the idea of something given as a gift, and meaning a good or service that is provided without price or requirement of compensation. From the recipient’s point of view, the good or service is provided without charge. It’s free! Gratis open access allows reader access to online scholarly content without a subscription or article paywall barrier. (Access to a browser-equipped computer with an Internet connection, which may not be free, is assumed.) … Gary F. Daught Omega Alpha | Open Access Advocate for open access academic publishing in religion and theology http://oaopenaccess.wordpress.com oa.openaccess @ gmail.com | @OAopenaccess _______________________________________________ GOAL mailing list GOAL@eprints.org http://mailman.ecs.soton.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/goal
