Be part of the conversation this Open Access Week. Check out the schedule below for details of the events and professional development opportunities available throughout Open Access Week.
International Open Access Week is an annual, global campaign held during the last full week of October, raising awareness and fostering engagement in open access to scholarly research and knowledge. Established in 2008 by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) and its partners, it provides a platform for researchers, libraries, institutions, funders, publishers, and communities worldwide to host talks, workshops, and outreach activities that promote free, immediate, and unrestricted access to research outputs.
Open Access Week aims to accelerate the transition toward openness as the default in research dissemination, enhancing the visibility, impact, and equitable sharing of knowledge across disciplines. Each year, a specific theme is highlighted to encourage reflection and discussion on the social, ethical, and policy dimensions of the open scholarship movement.
This year's theme asks a pointed question about the present moment and how, in a time of disruption, communities can reassert control over the knowledge they produce. It also challenges us to reflect not only on who has access to education and research, but also on how knowledge is created and shared, where it originates, and whose voices are recognised and valued.
Learn more about this year's theme: https://www.openaccessweek.org/theme
Charles Sturt Library's Copyright and Open Content Librarian, Jane Bowland
This presentation highlights the importance of rights retention in scholarly publishing. Too often researchers must either sign away copyright, locking their work behind paywalls, or pay high Author Processing Charges (APC’s) to make it accessible. Open Access should not be unaffordable. Rights retention offers a practical solution, allowing researchers to share their Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAM’s) openly and without embargo. By restoring control to academia, rights retention promotes open scholarship, and challenges inequitable publishing models.
Tuesday October 21, 2025, 1-1.45pm AEDT
This masterclass demystifies the core pillars of Open Scholarship - from Open Access publishing to Open Data management and Open Educational Resources. Drawing from real-world examples and current trends, we'll explore how researchers can leverage open practices to increase their research impact and visibility while meeting funder requirements. Whether new to open research or looking to deepen your understanding, this session will provide practical insights into implementing open principles in your research workflow, understanding Creative Commons licensing, and making informed decisions about where and how to share your work openly. Join the Library's Scholarly Communications & Research librarians to learn how Charles Sturt University supports open research initiatives and how you can contribute to the growing open scholarship movement.
Wednesday October 22, 2025, 12-1:00pm AEDT
Register for the Seeing Like a Research Masterclass Series with the Office of Research
Organised by Open Access Australasia, this session brings together speakers from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia to explore how government administrations are exerting ownership and control over knowledge, shaping narratives and gatekeeping access. This diverse panel sheds light on the politics shaping knowledge ownership and access in a range of countries, with an emphasis on ways to defend and reclaim our knowledges in the face of these threats.
Tuesday October 21, 2025, 10-11:30am AEDT
Organised by Open Access Australasia, this session unpacks the concept of knowledge ownership within community and collective contexts. Panellists will reflect on their definitions of knowledge ownership, rooted in collaboration, lived experience, and cultural relevance, highlighting how knowledge can be created, shared and protected collectively rather than claimed individually. Unlike traditional academic models that emphasise individual authorship, proprietary rights, and institutional control, community-based understandings of knowledge foreground collective stewardship, reciprocal relationships, and respect for cultural protocols.
Wednesday October 22, 2025, 1-2:30pm AEDT
This session brings together diverse voices from across Deakin University to unpack the systems, structures and stories that shape how knowledge is created, shared and valued. Facilitated by Dr Danny Kinglsey, Director Library Services (Information), our panellists from across the publishing landscape include:
Register directly with Deakin: Who owns our knowledge? A conversation
Organised by Open Access Australasia, this session asks ‘What does it mean to “own” your research in 2025?’ How can academic authors make informed choices about where and how people (and/or machines!) can access and build on their work? This session explores how the scholarly community can wrest control back from the oligopoly and maintain agency over their own work, ensuring their research has the widest and most meaningful impact. Vive la révolution!
Thursday October 23, 2025, 1-2:30pm AEDT
Organised by James Cook University Library, this panel will explore how generative technologies are reshaping our understanding of creativity, ownership, and access to knowledge. From the ethics of AI training on copyrighted works to the future of open scholarship, can existing frameworks survive the rapid evolution of machine authorship? This discussion invites scholars, artists, and technologists alike to imagine what intellectual property, and intellectual freedom, might mean in the AI era and features Charles Sturt Library's very own University Librarian and AI guru, Carlo Iacono.
Thursday October 23, 2025, 3-4:00pm AEDT
Charles Sturt University acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which its campuses are located, paying respect to Elders, both past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations Peoples.
Charles Sturt University is an Australian University, TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018. CRICOS Provider: 00005F.
