Dear HIFA colleagues,
For the purpose of this discussion, when we refer to 'open access' we use the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition: 'Open access to scientific literature means free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles...' https://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read/
The term 'scientific literature' refers to 'peer-reviewed articles and other formal publications' https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/scientific-literature
We are particularly keen to look at open access to peer-reviewed academic research papers, which are mostly published in biomedical research journals. Such papers are typically either original primary research or secondary research such as systematic reviews. So a more specific wording of our question would be: What is the impact of open access to health research on health care?
The term 'open access' can be applied not only to research papers but to almost any type of publication: educational resources, formularies, books, clinical guidelines, editorials, commentaries, blogs, books... We are interested not only in the direct impact of open access to health research on health, but also the indirect impact. For example, how does open access to primary research enable evidence synthesis such as systematic reviews and clinical guidelines? And in what ways does open access to research facilitate the development of educational resources, formularies, books...?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org