Why is Open Access Leiden interesting for scientists?
When your publications are stored in the Leiden Repository you will be found on the internet more easily.
Open Access Leiden for scientists: the advantages
The SURF foundation has produced a short film (4,5 minutes) which clearly explains the advantages of Open Access. Watch the film.
Open Access Leiden enables the scientific publications from Leiden University to be stored digitally and remain accessible. For you as scientist this has important advantages: your open access publications can be easily found and used. Thanks to a link with the e-depot of the KB - the National Library of the Netherlands - the publications are properly archived. When your publications are stored in the repository many other services become possible, such as easily creating a publication list on your personal homepage.
The Leiden Repository is used regularly. In the first few months of 2007, on average, a publication was downloaded from the repository 145.000 times per month. Users originate from all over the world. The United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are at the top of the list, but also China is ranked highly. In February 2007 the repository contained about 10.000 publications, and this number is growing!
What do you need to do?
A link has been established between METIS (the research registration system) and the repository. When you register your publication in METIS, you can submit your full text article to the repository with just a few extra clicks.
What about copyright?
A frequently asked question is whether all this is allowed by the publisher. The answer to this is different for different disciplines, and in addition depends on the publisher. Many publishers, though, are much more positive towards open access than you might expect. Some important information about copyright can be found on the pages of the Copyright Information Office. If you can't directly find the information you are looking for, the staff of this information point are willing to help you personally.