Advocacy organizations for OA

This list is part of the Open Access Directory.


 * This is a list of organizations which make OA advocacy a significant part of their mission. For this purpose, advocacy goes beyond providing OA to other forms of promoting OA.


 * Please annotate organizations with the location of their headquarters, the nations or regions in which they work, the sorts of advocacy in which they engage, and their launch date.
 * If organizations have notable OA advocacy projects, please list them under the organizations rather than as separate entries.


 * If an organization has since folded, please include it with an annotation rather than exclude it.


 * Related lists in OAD: Institutions that support open access.

A

 * @ccess
 * An offshoot of the Open Knowledge Foundation.
 * Focused on BOAI-compliant OA, worldwide.
 * Launched February 2012.


 * Access to Knowledge Global Academy
 * Based at the Information Society Project of Yale Law School.
 * Focused on "research, education, and policy advice promoting access to knowledge" worldwide, and especially in developing countries.
 * Launched in September 2008.


 * Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D)
 * Based in Cairo.
 * Focused on A2K in the developing world.
 * Launched in February 2010.


 * access2research
 * Focused on the campaign for OA and free access over the Internet to journals.
 * Focused on promoting taxpayer-funded research and OA.


 * African Access to Knowledge Alliance (AAKA) (no web site)
 * Based in Botswana.
 * Focused on A2K in Africa, including OA.
 * Launched as the Africa Copyright and Access to Information Alliance (ACAIA) on November 28, 2005, and re-launched as the AAKA and registered as a Botswana trust in January 2007.


 * African Commons Project
 * Based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
 * Focuses on turning "communities into active participants in the digital economy and to defend, protect, support and encourage the freedom of South African societies to create, build upon and share knowledge".
 * Launched in 2008


 * African Copyright & Access to Knowledge Project (ACA2K)
 * Based in Johannesburg.
 * Focused on "the relationship between national copyright environments and access to knowledge in African countries".
 * Launched as the ACA2k Network April 25, 2008.


 * Agenda for Open Research
 * Based in the UK
 * Focused on openness and transparency in science
 * Launch date unclear


 * Associazione italiana per la promozione della scienza aperta (AISA)
 * Based in Trento, Italy.
 * English name = AISA (Italian Association for the Promotion of Open Science)
 * Focused on supporting and advocating for Open Science.
 * Founded in March, 2013.


 * Akada Network
 * Based in Abuja, Nigeria
 * Focused on promoting visibility in higher education and the research sector to bridge knowledge gaps
 * Launched 2013


 * Aktionsbündnis: Urheberrecht für Bildung und Wissenschaft
 * Focused on copyright reforms to facilitate OA, especially in Germany.
 * Launched July 5, 2004.


 * Alliance for Taxpayer Access (ATA)
 * Based in Washington D.C. Administered by SPARC (below).
 * Focused on OA for publicly-funded research in the US.
 * A membership organization of US universities, libraries, societies, patient advocacy groups, and public-interest groups.
 * Launched August 24, 2004.


 * Allianz der deutschen Wissenschaftsorganisationen (Alliance of German Science Organisations)
 * Focused on science policy in Germany, including OA.
 * Also see its Arbeitsgruppe Open Access (Working Group on Open Access).


 * American Academic & Scholarly Research Center (AASRC)
 * Based in the United States of America.
 * Focused on "research, education, and policy advice promoting access to knowledge" worldwide, and especially in developing countries.


 * Arbeitskreis Open Access
 * Based in Berlin, Germany
 * Focused on promoting science and access to research at Leibniz Association member institutions


 * Association for Computers and the Humanities (ACH)
 * Based in the US. "The ACH is the US-based member of the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) consortium."
 * Focused on OA in the humanities.
 * Launched in 1978, and ramped up its OA advocacy in 2011-12.


 * Association of Libraries of Czech Universities (AKVŠ)
 * OA blog.
 * Open Access in CZ. Website set up for the Open Access Week 2010, with 11 participating institutions.
 * DSpace CZ
 * Launched in 2001.


 * AusGOAL
 * Stands for "Australian Governments Open Access and Licensing Framework"
 * Provides support for government and related sectors to facilitate open access to publicly funded information


 * Australasian Open Access Strategy Group (AOASG)
 * Based in Australia.
 * Focused on open access outreach and advocacy in Australia and New Zealand.
 * Known as the Australian Open Access Support Group prior to August, 2015.
 * Launched in 2012.


 * Authors Alliance
 * Based in Berkeley, California
 * Focused on representing the interests of authors who support open access policies
 * Launched on May 21, 2014

B

 * Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences
 * Based in Berkeley, California, USA
 * Focused on improving the standards of openness and integrity in economics, political science, psychology, and related disciplines.
 * Launched in 2012


 * Bioline International
 * Based in Brazil.
 * Focused on OA in and from developing countries.
 * Launched in 1993.


 * BioMed Central (BMC)
 * Based in London.
 * In addition to publishing OA journals, advocates green and gold OA worldwide.
 * Also see the BMC advocacy page.
 * Also see the BMC project on Open Access and the Developing World.


 * Biblioteca Regional de Medicina (BIREME)
 * Based in São Paulo, Brazil.
 * Focused on access to medical information in Latin America and the Caribbean.
 * Launched in 1967. Re-launched in 1982 under the name, Latin-American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information, but retaining the acronym (BIREME) of its old name.

C

 * Cambridge Open Research
 * Based in Cambridge, U.K.
 * A once a month meeting to promote ideas of "sharing and collaboration among academics as well as between academics and non-academics."


 * Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL)
 * The Association’s members consists of 29 major academic research libraries across Canada together with Library and Archives Canada, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) and the Library of Parliament.
 * Plays a leading role in the transformation of scholarly communication in Canada through a number of projects: Data Management, Open Access, Institutional Repositories, Greater Reach for Your Research: Resources for authors.
 * Working Groups include Joint CARL/CRKN Open Access Working Group with The Canadian Research Knowledge Network.


 * Committee for the Accessibility of Publications in Sciences and Humanities (CAPSH)
 * Based in Cluny, France [Statuts de l'association C.A.P.S.H., Article 3].
 * “CAPSH (Committee for the Accessibility of Publications in Sciences and Humanities) is a French nonprofit association promoting the open access to academic publications.”.
 * Founded September 2015.
 * Manages online platform dissem.in.
 * Based in Paris, France [Twitter, "dissemin"].
 * "Dissemin is a web platform gathering metadata from many sources and analyzing the full text availability of publications of researchers." - "What is dissem.in?"
 * Launch date of October 2015 proposed in September 2015.


 * Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC)
 * Based in the capital cities of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
 * "A network of resource, research and training centers," which offers "scholars and practitioners stable opportunities for integrated research, training and collaboration in the region."
 * Established in 2003.


 * Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL)
 * Based in Austin, Texas at the University of Texas at Austin, Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning.
 * Focused on sharing Open Education Resources (OER) in the sphere of language and linguistics education.
 * Launched in 2010.


 * Center for Open Science (COS)
 * Based in Charlottesville, Virginia
 * Focused on "improving the alignment between scientific values and scientific practices to improve the accumulation and application of knowledge".
 * Launched in March 2013.
 * Also see its blog, Open Science Collaboration.


 * Center for the Study of the Public Domain (CSPD)
 * Based at Duke Law School, Durham, North Carolina.
 * Focused on "promot[ing] research and scholarship on the contributions of the public domain to speech, culture, science and innovation, to promote debate about the balance needed in our intellectual property system" and " translat[ing] academic research into public policy solutions."
 * Launched in September 2002.


 * Centre for Open Science (CEON)
 * Based at University of Warsaw Poland
 * Formed as a separate unit within ICM (Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling) to provide tools and advocate for the "OA approach in research."
 * Formed in 2010.


 * Centre for Research Communications (CRC)
 * Founded in April 2009 and situated at the University of Nottingham, UK
 * The CRC houses a portfolio of open-access projects, services and initiatives. These include the SHERPA partnership; the open-access services RoMEO, Juliet and OpenDOAR; the JISC Research Communications Strategy project, Repositories Support Project (RSP), and contribution to the European and international projects OpenAIRE, Dart-Europe and NECOBELAC.


 * Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe (CCSD)
 * Based in Villeurbanne, France.
 * Focused on green OA in France. CCSD operates HAL - a multi-disciplinary open access archive and institutional open access portals.
 * Launched in 2000.


 * ContentMine
 * Based in the UK
 * Focused on freeing up scientific facts, making them available to all outside paywalls.
 * Launched in 2014.


 * Centrum Cyfrowe Projekt: Polska
 * Based in Warsaw
 * English name: Center for Digital Design
 * Focused on facilitating open government, open NGOs, and open culture as a way of increasing civic engagement


 * CLACSO-Latin American Social Science Council-Open Access Program
 * Based in Buenos Aires, CLACSO is a network of 380 research institutions in 25 countries
 * Focusing on the promotion of OA policies and implementation of non-commercial OA initiatives


 * Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI)
 * Based at the University of Kansas.
 * Focusing on the implementation of university OA policies in North America.
 * Launched August 3, 2011.


 * Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD)
 * Launched January 17, 2008, in Paris.
 * Focused on access to agricultural information and research, especially in developing countries.


 * COLABORA-Comunidad Latinoamericana de Bibliotecas y Repositorios Digitales Latin America Community of Digital Libraries and Repositories. Gathers individuals interested in the subject.


 * Collaborative Knowledge Foundation
 * Based in San Francisco.
 * Focused on developing open source tools to support scholarship.
 * Also known as the Coko Foundation.
 * Launched in October 2015.


 * Commons Strategies Group
 * Launched October 2010.
 * Focused on "advanc[ing] the commons as a paradigm in diverse settings -- both in theory and practice."


 * Communia Association
 * Based in Brussels.
 * Launched in June 2011.
 * Focused on the mission "to educate about, advocate for, offer expertise and research about the public domain in the digital age within society and with policy-makers."
 * Successor to the Communia Thematic Network, launched in September 2007 and funded by the European Commission until February 2011.


 * Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)
 * Focused on green OA around the world. A spin-off from DRIVER (below).
 * Launched in October 2009.


 * Conferenza dei Rettori delle Università Italiane (CRUI) Gruppo Open Access
 * Focused on OA policies for Italian universities.
 * The OA working group was launched in early 2006.


 * Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL), Scholarly Communications Working Group
 * Based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
 * Focused on studying open access and scholarly communications in order to advice COPPUL Directors on supporting these activities and policies.
 * Founded in 2012


 * Couperin
 * French academic consortium that brings together more than 200 members.


 * Creative Commons (CC)
 * Based in San Francisco.
 * Focused on spreading open licenses and libre OA, for all kinds of digital content, worldwide.
 * Launched May 15, 2002.
 * Also see Science Commons, focused on libre OA for research literature and data, launched January 1, 2005.

D

 * Data Foundation.
 * Based in Washington D.C.
 * Focused on research and advocacy surrounding open government-generated data.
 * Launched in 2016.


 * Don't Pay Twice
 * Focused on Campaign for OA.
 * Don't Pay Twice is supported by American Medical Student Association and Universities Allied for Essential Medicines.


 * Digital Repositories Infrastructure Vision for European Research (DRIVER)
 * Focused on green OA around the world.


 * Digital Repository Federation in Japan (DRF)
 * Digital Repository Federation (DRF) is a federation consisting of 87 universities and research institutes (as of February 2009), which aims to promote Open Access and Institutional Repository in Japan.
 * DRF is based on one of the research and development projects, managed by Hokkaido University, Chiba University, Kanazawa University, Osaka University and Hiroshima University.


 * DuraSpace
 * Launched May 12, 2009, as a merger of the DSpace Foundation and Fedora Commons.


 * Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformation (DINI)
 * Focused on green OA in Germany.

E

 * Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL)
 * From EIFL. Focused on OA in developing and transition countries.
 * Also see the EIFL-OA programme.
 * Launched in 1999.


 * Elektroniczna BIBlioteka (EBIB)
 * EBIB is a non-profit organisation of Polish librarians working for OA.
 * Launched in 1999.


 * ElibUkr Electronic Library of Ukraine
 * The ELibUkr is a nation-wide linked Electronic Library/Knowledge Centers network.
 * Promotes OA and OA repository development in Ukrainian Universities.
 * Supports ELibUkr-OA - a shared national repository for Ukrainian researchers without institutional repositories.


 * Enabling Open Scholarship (EOS)
 * The EOS Board
 * International
 * Based at the University of Liege.
 * Focused on helping universities adopt OA policies.
 * A membership organization of research institutions.
 * Launched as EurOpenScholar, October 2007. Relaunched as Enabling Open Scholarship, September 22, 2009.


 * EPrints Community
 * International
 * Open Access Policy-Making Tools and Guidance
 * Focused on institutions hosting OA repositories based on EPrints software.


 * ESA Open Science
 * Based in Washington D.C.
 * "An Ecological Society Of America Section Devoted To Open Science".


 * European Heads of Research Councils (EuroHORCs)
 * Recommended OA mandates for member institutions, April 18, 2008.
 * Launched in 1992.


 * European Network for Copyright in support of Education and Science (ENCES)
 * Focused on copyright reforms to facilitate OA (and OER) in Europe.
 * Launched November 13, 2008.


 * European Scientific Institute (ESI)
 * ESI is a global academic platform, cooperating with universities and institutions on five continents to organise conferences, workshops and collaborative projects.
 * Hosts one of the largest interdisciplinary open access journals in Europe.


 * European University Association (EUA) Working Group on OA
 * Focused on OA policies for European universities.
 * The OA Working Group was launched on July 10, 2006.


 * Euroscience Science Publishing Working Group
 * Focused on spreading OA policies throughout Europe.
 * The Science Publishing Working Group was launched on January 30, 2005.


 * Expert Advisory Group on Data Access (EAGDA)
 * Established by Wellcome Trust
 * Based in the U.K.
 * Provides "strategic advice on the emerging scientific, legal and ethical issues associated with data access for human genetics research and cohort studies."

F

 * FinnOA
 * The national site for OA in Finland.


 * FLOK Society
 * Based in Ecuador.
 * "FLOK" stands for "Free/Libre Open Knowledge".
 * A "Free Open Knowledge Society, designing a world for the commons."


 * Force11
 * Focused on transforming scholarly communication, including support for OA.
 * The name stands for "Future of Research Communication and e-Scholarship 2011".
 * Launched in March 2011.


 * FOSTER
 * FOSTER stands for "Facilitate Open Science Training for European Research"
 * Based in Minho, Portugal, but European-wide in scope.
 * Focused on assisting young researchers in integrating open access principles into their workflow, facilitating the adoption and implementation of open access policies for European funders, and increasing institutional support and training for open access policies.
 * Launched in 2014


 * Foundation for Open Access Statistics (FOAS)
 * Based in California.
 * Focuses on promoting "free software, open access publishing, and reproducible research in statistics" and supporting The Journal of Statistical Software (JSS)
 * Launched in 2013


 * Foundation for P2P Alternatives
 * Launched November 29, 2005.


 * Free Ebook Foundation
 * Based in the United States.
 * Focused on the access and distribution of free Ebooks, in coordination with projects Unglue.it and GITenberg.
 * Launched June 2015.


 * Free Culture Foundation
 * Chapters based in universities in the United States.
 * Focuses on undoing "the exploitation enabled by private ownership of technology, media, and communication networks".
 * Launched in 2003. Previously known as Students of Free Culture.


 * Free Knowledge Advocacy Group
 * Based across the EU
 * Focused on promoting free access to, and re-use of, human knowledge.
 * Launched in 2013.


 * Free Knowledge Institute
 * Based in Amsterdam.
 * Formerly, Science Education and Learning in Freedom (SELF), re-launched as FKI January 14, 2008.


 * Free/ Libre Open Source and Open Knowledge Association of Kansas
 * Based in Lawrence, Kansas
 * Focused on promoting the open sharing of software and knowledge in Kansas
 * Organizes educational events for residents

G

 * Gold Open Access Infrastructure
 * Based in the U.K.
 * Promotes discussion on "the subject of the technical infrastructure needed to support Gold Open Access to published research papers."
 * Launched in April 2013.


 * Grupo de Pesquisa em Políticas Públicas para o Acesso à Informação (GPOPAI)
 * English name = Research Group on Public Policy for Access to Information.
 * Based at the Universidade de São Paulo.
 * Focused on access to information, culture, and knowledge in Brazil.

H

 * Harvard Open Access Project (HOAP)
 * Based at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
 * Focused on developing effective OA policies at universities and funding agencies (worldwide), and providing accurate and timely information about OA itself.
 * Launched in the fall of 2011.


 * Hungarian Open Repositories (HUNOR)
 * The HUNOR consortium was set up to advance national open access practices in Hungary.
 * Run by the University Library of Debrecen.

I

 * iCommons
 * Based in the UK.
 * Focused on "open education, access to knowledge, free software, open access publishing and free culture communities around the world."
 * Apparently launched in 2006.


 * IFLA Open Access Taskforce
 * From the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA).
 * Focused on OA through the UN, through national governments worldwide, through member institutions, and through partner OA-advocacy organizations.
 * Announced October 11, 2011.


 * International Advisory Group, PLoS
 * Based in San Francisco, USA.
 * A group of eminent individuals within PLoS, focused on addressing research barriers and encouraging global participation.


 * International Community for Open Research and Education (ICORE)
 * Focused on promoting Open Research and Open Education worldwide.
 * Founded and established by the joint initiative and collaboration of organisations and individuals worldwide.


 * IFLA | International Leadership programme project descriptions: Open Access
 * From the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA).


 * INIST-CNRS
 * L'Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique du CNRS, France.


 * Informationsplattform Open Access (IPOA)
 * The national site for OA in Germany. In October 2010, it began offering similar coverage for Austria and Switzerland.
 * Launched in September 2006.


 * Innovating Communication in Scholarship (ICIS)
 * Based in California, USA
 * Focused on analysing changes in scholarly communication and helping re-shape the field.
 * Launched in November 2013.


 * Institute for Open Leadership (IOL)
 * Developed by Creative Commons (CC) to "train new leaders in education, science, and public policy fields on the values and implementation of openness in licensing, policies, and practices."
 * Formed in December, 2013


 * Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia (IBICT)
 * Focused on OA in Brazil.


 * Instituto de Información Científica y Tecnológica (IDICT), Cuba
 * Focused on OA in Cuba, e,g, see Open Access Week 2010.


 * International Council for Open Research and Education (ICORE)
 * Focuses on "promoting Open Research and Open Education as a fundamental social objective".
 * Launched in Rome, May 2013


 * International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP)
 * Based in Oxford.
 * Focused on improving availability in developing countries, including through OA.
 * Launched in 1992, registered as a UK Charity in 2004.


 * Irish Universities Association Open Project Working Group
 * Focused on green OA in Ireland.
 * The Open Project Working Group was launched around June 2007.

J

 * Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)
 * Focused on fostering digital scholarship in the UK, including many projects to foster OA. (We could use some help listing its most important OA-related projects here.)
 * Research Communications Strategy project (RCS)
 * A strategic analysis and advocacy initiative.

K

 * Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
 * Based in Washington, D.C. and Geneva.
 * Focused on "better outcomes, including new solutions, to the management of knowledge resources. KEI is focused on social justice, particularly for the most vulnerable populations, including low-income persons and marginalized groups."
 * Launched in 2006, "assimilating the staff and work program of the Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech), while redefining the mission of the organization."


 * Knowledge Exchange (KE)
 * Based in Copenhagen.
 * Focused on OA in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK.
 * Also see the KE's Open Access Working Group.


 * Kosson, Romania
 * Focused on OA in Romania.
 * Launched May 1, 2007.
 * Also see Open Access Collection.

L

 * La Referencia
 * Focused on green OA in Latin America, with support from IADB is promoting the development of digital repositories national systems en the region. Started in 9 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, México, Perú, Venezuela.


 * Libraria
 * International member network.
 * Focused on supporting open access in academic publishing.
 * Launched February 2015.


 * Linked Open Data in Libraries, Archives, and Museums (LODLAM).
 * International network.
 * Focused on promoting linked open in the context of libraries, archives, galleries, and museums.
 * Launched in 2010.


 * Lithuanian Research Library Consortium (LMBA)
 * Focused on OA in Lithuania.

M

 * Malaysian Open Access Support Group
 * Based at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia.
 * Focused on OA advocacy and awareness, including workshops and resources.


 * Metamorphosis Foundation
 * Based in Skopje, Macedonia.
 * Launched Digital repositories website as an adaptation of the “Digital Repositories” toolkit published by JISC infoNet.
 * Launched in 1999 ("as part of the e-publishing program of the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia"), and became an independent foundation in 2004.


 * Mediterranean Open Access Network (MedOANet)
 * Focused on "coordinating Open Access policies, strategies and structures in six Mediterranean countries: Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Turkey."
 * Launched April 5, 2012.


 * Mediterranean Open Access Network - Useful Links (MedOANet)
 * Focused on "coordinating Open Access policies, strategies and structures in six Mediterranean countries: Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Turkey."
 * The Useful Links page provides links to other organizations throughout the Mediterranean countries and Europe.


 * Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva, Biblioteca Electrónica de Ciencia y Tecnología, Argentina
 * Focused on OA in Argentina and Latin America.


 * MIT Society for Open Science
 * Student group based out of MIT
 * Raises awareness for open science and knowledge through conferences, meet-ups, hackathons, and talks.

N

 * National Academic Research and Collaborations Information System (NARCIS)
 * Based at the Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen (or, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, KNAW) in Amsterdam.
 * Focused on green OA in the Netherlands. Incorporating several earlier programs, including Digital Academic Repositories (DARE) and DAREnet.


 * National Science Communication Institute
 * Based in Seattle, USA
 * Focused on improving science communication


 * National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
 * Supports Open Access Portal.
 * Runs CAS IR grid.
 * Maintains CAS -OAJ Open access journals of CAS.


 * Network of Collaboration Between Europe and Latin America-Caribbean Countries (NECOBELAC)
 * Based at Rome's Istituto Superiore di Sanità.
 * Focused on access to public-health research, including green and gold OA, in Europe and Latin America.
 * Launched in February 2009.


 * Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)
 * Focused on ETDs (electronic theses and dissertations), including OA for ETDs.

O

 * OA Ísland
 * Participants based largely in Reykjavik.
 * English name = OA Iceland.
 * Focused on advocating for open publishing, and support to the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.
 * Manages website Opinn Aðgangur á Íslandi (English = Open Access in Iceland), promoting open access and providing Icelandic and international OA resources.
 * Website launch announced on Twitter in September 2012.


 * OAK Law (Open Access to Knowledge) Law Project
 * Based at Queensland University of Technology.
 * Focused on OA in Australia, especially copyright and licensing issues.
 * Created February 21, 2006, and officially launched November 29-30, 2006.


 * OOO Canada.
 * Based in Canada.
 * Canadian advocacy network focused on open access, open data, and and open education.
 * Launch announced October 2015.


 * Open Access Network Austria (OANA)
 * A joint activity by UNIKO and FWF.
 * Focused on developing policy recommendations for open access implementation in Austria, activities of the research institutions, funding organisations and research policies (incl. taking into account international developments; positioning towards the information providers (mainly publishing houses; offering contact persons and source of information for scientists, research institutions and (research-) policies
 * Founded in 2012.


 * OpenAccess.be
 * The national site for OA in Belgium.


 * OpenAccess.dk
 * The national site for OA in Denmark.


 * OpenAccess.gr
 * The national site for OA in Greece.


 * OpenAccess.hk
 * The national site for OA in Hong Kong.


 * Open Access India
 * Founded in 2012.
 * Focused on open access, open data and open education advocacy and developing community-based e-infrastructure.


 * Open Access Nepal
 * A student network to promote open access to scholarly research across Nepal.
 * Launched in 2013.
 * Supported by Right to Research Coalition


 * Open Access Nigeria
 * A student network to promote open access to scholarly research across Nigeria.
 * Launched in 2013
 * Supported by the Right to Research Coalition
 * Find their blog here


 * Open Access South Africa
 * A student network to promote open access to scholarly research across South African universities.
 * Launched in 2014
 * Supported by the Right to Research Coalition


 * OpenAccess.is
 * The national site for OA in Iceland.


 * Open Access Italy
 * The national site for OA in Italy.


 * Open Access Korea
 * The national site for OA in Korea.


 * OpenAccess.nl
 * The national site for OA in the Netherlands.


 * OpenAccess.no
 * The national site for OA in Norway.


 * Open Access Peru
 * The national site for OA in Peru.


 * Open Access Portal in Armenia
 * Based in Armenia.
 * Focused on developing OA projects and initiatives, and sharing related Armenian events and resources.
 * Maintains Հայաստանի ատենախոսությունների բաց մատչելիության պահոց (Open Access Repository of the Armenian Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Armenian ETD-OA))
 * Earliest initiative dated 2007.


 * Open Access Slovenia
 * The national site for OA in Slovenia.


 * OpenAccess.se
 * The national site for OA in Sweden.


 * Open Access Agreements and Licenses Task Force
 * Initiated and supported by the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)
 * Monitors, evaluates and promotes the "implementation of effective open access agreements and licenses in order to improve access to research papers globally."


 * Open Access Archaeology - Open Access Archaeology
 * Focused on OA in the field of Archeology.


 * Open Access Coalition
 * Based in a Google Group
 * Focused on "fighting for the open web."


 * Open Access Communication for Science (OACS)
 * Based at the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration (HANKEN).
 * Focused on research about the growth and consequences of OA.


 * Open Access Implementation Group (OAIG)
 * The closest thing to a national site for OA in the UK, at least at the time of launch.
 * At launch time, the group had representatives from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Salford, Universities UK, Research Libraries UK, the Society of College, National and University Libraries, JISC, the Research Councils UK, the Wellcome Trust, the Association of Research Managers and Administrators UK, and the Public Library of Science.
 * Launched October 28, 2010.


 * Open Access Network Austria Working Groups
 * Formed as a part of OANA
 * Focuses on a wide variety of issues including Open Access policy, financing of Open Access, legal and political frameworks, and publishing models.


 * Open Access Scholarly Information Sourcebook (OASIS)
 * Focused on the practical implementation of OA, worldwide.
 * Editorial Team and Advisory Board


 * Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
 * Focused on gold OA worldwide.
 * Launched October 14, 2008.


 * Open Access Team for Scotland (OATS)
 * The national site for OA in Scotland.
 * Site last updated in February 2005. Is it defunct?


 * Open Access Toolset Alliance (OATA)
 * Focused on free and open-source tools to support OA.
 * Launched August 9, 2013.


 * Open Access Working Group (OAWG)
 * Based in Washington, D.C.
 * A SPARC initiative
 * Focused on OA for publicly-funded research in the US.


 * Open Access Working Group
 * An initiative of the Open Knowledge Network
 * Focused on re-establishing open access according to the Budapest Open Access Initiative


 * Open African Innovation Research and Training (Open AIR)
 * Based in institutions throughout Africa, Canada, India and Europe.
 * Focused on investigating "how intellectual property (IP) regimes can be harnessed in Africa to facilitate innovation through collaboration – and to make processes more participatory, knowledge more accessible, and benefits more widely shared".
 * Launched in 2011.


 * Openforum Academy
 * Openforum Academy is a think tank concerned with OA in computing.
 * Openforum Academy was established by Openforum Europe.


 * Open Access Working Group Ukraine
 * A working group of the Association "Information-Consortium", Ukraine.


 * Open Book Alliance (OBA)
 * Based in San Francisco. An offshoot of the Open Content Alliance (below).
 * Focused on OA books worldwide.
 * Launched August 26, 2009.


 * Open Content Alliance (OCA)
 * Based in San Francisco. Also see the Open Book Alliance (above) and Open Knowledge Commons (below).
 * Focused on digitizing and providing OA to books, worldwide.
 * Launched October 3, 2005.


 * Open Cultuur Data (Open Culture Data).
 * Based in the Netherlands.
 * Focused on promoting open data in the context of cultural heritage.
 * Launched in September 2011.
 * Open and Collaborative Science in Development Network (OCSDNET)
 * Focused on gathering observations on whether, and under which conditions, open approaches to research and collaboration could lead to various development outcomes in the Global South.


 * Open Data for Development (OD4D)
 * International network.
 * "Open Data for Development (OD4D) is a global network of leaders in the Open Data community, working together to develop open data solutions around the world." - OD4D, About
 * Launched January 2015.


 * Open Data Foundation (ODaF)
 * Focused on open data, and open standards for metadata, and open-source software for statistical data.
 * Apparently launched in 2006.


 * Open Data Institute
 * Based in London
 * Focused on facilitating the use of open data to create economic, environmental, social, and cultural value.


 * Open Development Working Group
 * Part of the Open Knowledge Network
 * A network functioning as a central point of reference and support for people people interested in open knowledge development.


 * Open Education Coalition (OEC), Poland
 * A group of several non-profit organizations working together to promote openness in Poland.


 * Open Education Consortium
 * OEC is a global community of higher education institutions and associated organisations committed to advancing open education and its impact on global education.


 * Open Education Europa
 * “The main goal of the Open Education Europa portal is to offer access to all existing European Open Educational Resources in different languages in order to be able to present them to learners, teachers and researchers.” - Open Education Europa, About This Portal
 * Initiated in September, 2013 by the European Commission.


 * OpenGLAM
 * GLAM acronym stands for "Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums".
 * Initiative run by the Open Knowledge Foundation
 * Focused on promoting and providing open access to digital cultural heritage held in Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums.
 * Launched in 2013.
 * OpenGLAM Working Group.
 * Based internationally.
 * "The OpenGLAM Working Group is a global network of people who work to open up cultural data and content." - OpenGLAM Working Group.
 * Linked to local branches in Austria, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland.
 * Launch announced July 2013.
 * OpenGLAM CH Working Group
 * Working to "promote and facilitate the adoption of the OpenGLAM Principles in Switzerland".
 * Launched in 2013.
 * Operating under the Opendata.ch Association.


 * Open Humanities Alliance (OHA)
 * Focused on community-building for the Open Humanities Press.


 * Open Journal Project
 * Based in Melbourne, Australia.
 * An initiative of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Institute.
 * A different (?) Open Journal Project closed in 1999.


 * Open Knowledge Commons (OKC)
 * Focused on digitization for OA. A spin-off of the Open Content Alliance (above).
 * Launched September 2008.


 * Open Knowledge Finland (OKFFI)
 * Based in Helsinki, Finland.
 * "We promote opening and usage of open knowledge and advance development of open society in Finland." - Open Knowledge Finland, About
 * Supports working groups dedicated to Open Government Data, Avoin GLAM [English = Open GLAM], Open Science, Open Sustainability, Open Education, Open Democracy, Open Licenses, My Data, Open API, and Data refinery.
 * Founded in 2012.


 * Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN)
 * Based in Cambridge, England.
 * Working for OA and open data worldwide, especially in the UK.
 * Launched in 2004.
 * Also see the OKFN Open Science Working Group, which has local groups in Cambridge (Massachusetts), Oxford (England), and Stockholm.
 * Also see the Open Knowledge Foundation Blog (OKF hits the Med – Greek group launched!) OKF-hits-the-med-greek-group-launched


 * Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland
 * Part of the Open Knowledge Network
 * Focused on promoting open science


 * Open Knowledge El Salvador
 * Part of the Open Knowledge Network
 * Focused on supporting open access in El Salvador


 * Open Knowledge Macedonia
 * An initiative of the Open Knowledge Network
 * Launched in 2015
 * Focused on strengthening and expanding the open community in Macedonia.


 * Open Knowledge Pakistan
 * An initiative of the Open Knowledge Network
 * Focused on promoting open knowledge through educational events, public policy programmes, and networking activities.


 * Open Knowledge Portugal
 * An initiative of the Open Knowledge Network
 * Launched in 2015
 * Focused on promoting open knowledge through educational events, public policy programmes, and networking activities.


 * Open Knowledge Ukraine
 * An initiative of the Open Knowledge Network
 * Launched 2015
 * Focused on promoting open knowledge through educational events, public policy programmes, and networking activities.


 * Open MENA
 * OKFN regional community based in the Middle East and North Africa [Open Knowledge Blog].
 * MENA acronym stands for Middle East and North Africa.
 * Dedicated to open governance, data, and knowledge focused in North Africa and the Middle East.
 * Announced February, 2014.


 * Open Policy Institute
 * Launched 2012.
 * A project of Creative Commons.


 * Open Policy Network (OPN)
 * A project of Creative Commons.
 * Supports the "creation, adoption and implementation of open policies around the world." Works to help maintain "existing policy frameworks" in order to ensure "effective and long-lasting" open policies.
 * Developed in October 2012.


 * Open Research Exchange
 * ORE is a hub built by PatientsLikeMe to facilitate collaboration between researchers, clinicians, academics and patients.
 * The goal of ORE is to position patients at the center of the clinical process to develop better collective understanding of diseases and new health outcome measures.


 * Open Scholarship
 * Based in Edinburgh.
 * Focused on promoting knowledge and and working practices within the University of Edinburgh.
 * Launched in 2012.


 * Open Scholar C.I.C.
 * A not-for-profit Community Interest Company.
 * Based in Birmingham, U.K.
 * Supports the development and promotion of LIBRE (LIBerating REsearch): A "multidisciplinary research platform implementing an innovative evaluation model that we call author-guided open peer review.
 * Founded in 2012.


 * Open Scholar Foundation
 * The organization's aim is to "improve the efficiency of scholarly communication by providing incentives for researchers to openly share their digital research artifacts, including manuscripts, data, protocols, source code, and lab notes."
 * Formed in 2013.


 * Open Science ASAP
 * Based in Austria.
 * "Open Science ASAP" stands for "Open Science As A Practice."
 * Provides a framework for sharing projects such as: research, blogs, software, course ideas, development tools.


 * Open Science Bay Area
 * Based in Mountain View, California.
 * Launched September 23, 2010.


 * Open Science Federation (OSF)
 * Focused on the advance of open access, open data, and open science.
 * Launched in 2010.


 * Open Science Framework
 * Part of Center for Open Science
 * Provides digital tools to support researchers throughout their workflow in order to encourage open science practices


 * Open Science in ICM
 * A project of the ICM – Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling, the University of Warsaw, Poland.


 * Open Science Working Group
 * Part of the Open Knowledge Network
 * A global network of researchers, librarians, students, policy-makers, data-curators, coders, entrepreneurs, activists and citizens who believe in open science, develop open projects, and foster a growing open community.


 * Open Society Foundations (OSF)
 * Based in New York.
 * Funding OA initiatives, including the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).


 * Open Steps
 * An online diary and platform based upon the travels of Marguerite Thierry and Alejandro Corbi.
 * Itinerary includes: South-East Europe, Turkey, India, South-East Asia, Japan and South-America.
 * Thierry and Corbi seek to document examples of knowledge sharing in various environments; among collectives, universities, creative spaces, individuals and organizations.
 * The travel project begins June 2013 and can be followed via Thierry and Corbi's Open Steps blog.


 * Opening Scholarship Project
 * Hosted by the Centre for Educational Technology
 * Funded by the Shuttleworth Foundation
 * Based at the University of Cape Town.


 * OpenSciDev
 * Based in Cambridge, UK
 * Focused on building a research community with a diverse group of stakeholders to help support and enable greater engagement with open science.


 * Oxford Open Science WIki
 * A Wiki from the OKF that is focused on Oxford and Open Science.
 * Focused on a Working Group formed Science and Oxford Open Science.


 * Open Textbook Network (OTN)
 * Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the University of Minnesota, Center of Education and Human Development.
 * "The Open Textbook Network (OTN) promotes access, affordability, and student success through the use of open textbooks."
 * Manages the Open Textbook Library, founded in 2012.
 * Launched in 2015.


 * OpenTox Association
 * Based in Switzerland.
 * Focused on promoting "the community-based exchange and use of open knowledge, software, methods, tools, data, reference resources, and standards in the scientific activities of predictive toxicology, safety assessment and risk management."
 * Launched March 27, 2015.


 * Open Undergrad Research Foundation (OpenURF)
 * Plan to base in the United States indicated in launch announcement.
 * Focused on promoting Open Science in undergraduate education.
 * Announced in July, 2015.


 * Open Access Publishing Services (OPuS)
 * Based in the Netherlands.
 * Focused on supporting open access research and data publication [OPuS, About].

P

 * Partnership for Open Data, Open Data Institute
 * Based in Cambridge, UK
 * Part of a partnership between the Open Knowledge Foundation, the World Bank, and the Open Data Institute.
 * Focused on educating policy makers and citizens in developing countries about the benefits and uses of open data.
 * Launched in 2012


 * Portale per la Letteratura scientifica Elettronica Italiana su Archivi aperti e Depositi Istituzionali (PLEIADI)
 * Originated from the collaboration between two major Italian university consortia, CASPUR and CILEA, within the framework of the AePIC project.


 * Public Knowledge (PK)
 * Based in Washington, D.C.
 * Focused on user rights in the digital culture, including OA to publicly-funded research in the US.


 * Public Library of Science (PLoS)
 * Based in San Francisco.
 * In addition to publishing OA journals, advocates green and gold OA worldwide.
 * Also see the PLoS advocacy page.


 * Public.Resource.org (PRO)
 * Focused on providing OA to public-domain government information in the US, including the primary sources of US law.
 * Launched in the spring of 2007.

R

 * RECOLECTA, Spain
 * A joint program of REBIUN/FECYT to promote, support and coordinate the development of the Spanish digital repositories infrastructure for open access, dissemination and preservation of Spanish publicly funded research results.


 * Return on Academic Research (ROARS)
 * Based in Italy
 * Focused on an evidence-based approach to policy discussions in higher education and research.
 * Launched September 2011.


 * Repositories Support Project (RSP)
 * Focused on green OA in the UK. Funded by JISC.


 * Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
 * Focused on green OA in Portugal.


 * Research Communications Strategy project (RCS)
 * A JISC funded strategic analysis and advocacy initiative in the UK.


 * Research Data Alliance (RDA)
 * Organized through an international steering group funded by agencies in the US, EU and Australia.
 * Focused on aiming "to accelerate and facilitate research data sharing and exchange".
 * Launched in August 2012


 * Research Group Acceso abierto a la ciencia
 * The Research Group's goal is to become a source of information about Open Access and a forum for discussion and sharing experiences.
 * The portal offers tools for authors, providing information about publishers copyright terms and self-archiving policies (Dulcinea), an updated directory of Spanish Institutional Open Access Repositories (BuscaRepositorios) and an International Directory of institutional OA policies (Melibea).


 * Right to Research Coalition
 * Based in Washington DC, USA.
 * Focused on promoting open access to scholarly and medical research.
 * Encourages student and early-career researcher participation.
 * A division of SPARC
 * Host of OpenCon


 * r0g_agency.
 * Based in Berlin, Germany.
 * Focused on promoting open culture.
 * Launched in 2012.

S

 * Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme (SCA)
 * Based in Cape Town, South Africa.
 * Focusing on Africa in general, and four institutions in particular: the Universities of Botswana, Cape Town, Mauritius, and Namibia.
 * Launched in September 2010.


 * Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)
 * Based in Washington, D.C.
 * Focused on OA in North America, especially from universities and public funding agencies.
 * A membership organization of North American research libraries.
 * Launched June 1998.
 * Also see SPARC Europe (launched July 2001) and SPARC Japan (launched December 19, 2006), and SPARC Africa (launched circa January 2016).
 * Also see the Alliance for Taxpayer Access (listed above), which is administered by SPARC.
 * Also see SPARC's Campus Open Access Policies (COAP) project, focused on university OA policies in North America (launched August 5, 2009).
 * Also see SPARC's Create Change project.
 * Also see SPARC's Right to Research project and Right to Research Coalition.


 * Sci-GaIA
 * Supported by partners based in Africa and Europe, including Brunel University London as Project Coordinator.
 * Full project title: "Energising Scientific Endeavour through Science Gateways and e-Infrastructures in Africa" - Sci-GaIA, Key Facts
 * "The main aim of the Sci-GaIA Coordination and Support Action is to create a sustainable foundation of educational material and procedures for the development and management of Science Gateways and e-Infrastructures in Africa and beyond to energise scientific endeavour." - Sci-GaIA, Project Activities
 * Maintains the Sci-GaIA Open Access Repository, e-Infrastructure Knowledge Base, the Africa Grid Science Gateway, and online courses.
 * Founded in May 2015 with a set duration of 24 months.


 * Science and Development Network (SciDev.net)
 * Based in London.
 * Focused on OA scientific and technological information for developing countries.
 * Launched in 2001.


 * Science Ouverte Haïti Afrique
 * International open science initiative and research project focused in Haiti and French-speaking African countries.
 * Full project title: "La science ouverte comme outil collectif de développement du pouvoir d’agir et de la justice cognitive en Haïti et en Afrique francophone : vers une feuille de route / Open science as a collective tool of empowerment and cognitive justice in Haiti and French-speaking Africa : building the roadmap."
 * Produced open science network, “Réseau interdisciplinaire d'information de d'échanges sur la science ouverte en Haïti et en Afrique francophone (RISOHA)”.
 * Supports online network, le Collectif SOHA.
 * Set duration of January 2015 - December 2016.


 * Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO)
 * Based in São Paulo, Brazil.
 * Focused on gold OA in developing countries.
 * Also see SciELO South Africa, launched in 2009.


 * SHERPA Partnership
 * Based at the University of Nottingham. "SHERPA" stands for "Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access," though the organization is better known by its acronym.
 * A body which has been active in open access research communications since 2002. The partnership now includes over 30 research-led institutions in the UK.
 * Launched in 2002.


 * Southern African Regional Universities' Association (SARUA)
 * Based in Johannesburg.
 * Focused on the interests of universities in Southern Africa, including their interests in OA.
 * In a 2008 report, SARUA recommended that member organizations work for OA.
 * Launched February 20, 2005.


 * Students for Free Culture
 * Focused on advancing free culture, including OA from funding agencies and universities, especially in the US.


 * SURF
 * Based in Amsterdam.
 * SURF is a Dutch higher education and research partnership for information and communication technology. Open Access is one of the programmes.
 * Also see its page on openness.

T

 * The Access Initiative (TAI)
 * Focused on "access to information, participation, and justice in environmental decision-making."
 * Launched in 1999.

U

 * UK Council of Research Repositories (UKCoRR)
 * Focused on green OA in the UK.
 * Launched May 21, 2007.


 * UK Working Group on Open Access
 * This is not the group's official name. The group doesn't seem to have an official name (yet).
 * Focused on OA for academic research in the UK, especially journal articles, conference proceedings and monographs.
 * Announced September 15, 2011 by UK Science Minister David Willetts.


 * UUK Open Access Coordination Group
 * Based in London, England.
 * UUK acronym stands for Universities UK.
 * Focused on guiding UK open access initiatives.
 * Organized following Finch report and subsequent November 2013 Finch report publication.

V

 * Verein für freien Wissenszugang
 * Based in Hannover.
 * Focused on free search engines.
 * Re-launched under its current name in 2009.

W

 * Welsh Repository Network (WRN)
 * The Welsh Repository Network is a collaborative venture between the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Wales to establish, develop and populate a network of interoperable institutional repositories.
 * The vision that underpins the network is to facilitate and encourage the sharing of resources across the principality and to maximise the impact of Welsh research across the globe.


 * Why Open Research?
 * Based in Mexico [Twitter, "Why Open Research?"].
 * Information resource focused on exploring open publishing options for researchers.
 * Launched in November, 2015.

Y

 * Yale University Open Data Access Project (YODA)
 * Based in New Haven, Connecticut.
 * Facilitates "access to patient-level clinical research data" to "ensure that patients and physicians possess all necessary information about a drug or device when making treatment decisions."