Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences has adopted a policy that requires faculty members to allow the university to make their scholarly articles available free online, making it the first U.S. university to do so (hat tip: Mathew Ingram).
Harvard Faculty Adopts Open Access Requirement
February 12, 2008
Share this post
One Comment

Law Bytes
Episode 238: David Fraser on Why Bill C-2's Lawful Access Powers May Put Canadians' Digital Security At Risk
byMichael Geist

June 30, 2025
Michael Geist
June 23, 2025
Michael Geist
Search Results placeholder
Recent Posts
Canadian Government Caves on Digital Services Tax After Years of Dismissing the Risks of Trade Retaliation
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 238: David Fraser on Why Bill C-2’s Lawful Access Powers May Put Canadians’ Digital Security At Risk
Ignoring the Warning Signs: Why Did the Canadian Government Dismiss the Trade Risks of a Digital Services Tax?
Why Bill C-2 Faces a Likely Constitutional Challenge By Placing Solicitor-Client Privilege at Risk
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 237: A Conversation with Jason Woywada of BCFIPA on Political Party Privacy and Bill C-4
Brilliant idea!
What a bonus for those doing research. I recall the old days when one trucked into the University library, accessed a list of potentially pertinent articles, opened them up on microfiche, and copied them if we wanted to read them at home. This involved transportation costs, as well as time factors.
Currently, with electronic resources and huge search engines, is is fairly simple to find articles for literature reviews. The problem is that while scholars are not paid for their intellectual property, publishers charge from $15 to $39 to access individual copies if one does not subscribe to a particular journal (which can run $100 – $400 a year).
The work makes money for the publisher, but nothing for the authors, and costs students and researchers a great deal of money. I hope this precedent spreads. We need to share information, not hoard it or make it available to only those who can afford it.