Open Access Week: Journals

Which forced migration journals meet the actual "open access" definition? While many are freely available online, they are not necessarily free of copyright restrictions. Refuge is a case in point. While no current issues are online, it has posted all back issues for which it still retains copyright. This is no doubt the case for many other forced migration materials that are online. To distinguish between these two categories, OA expert Peter Suber has come up with two descriptors - gratis vs. libre - which he defines as follows:

"Gratis OA removes price barriers but not permission barriers. It makes content free of charge but not free of copyright or licensing restrictions. It gives users no-fee access for reading but no more reuse rights than they already had through fair use or the local equivalent. ...By contrast, libre OA removes price barriers and at least some permission barriers. It lifts at least some copyright and licensing restrictions and permits at least some uses beyond fair use. "

This title is an open access journal in both price and permission senses of the term:

• Conflict and Health [access]

This journal title is libre OA:

• Forced Migration Review [access]

These journal titles are gratis OA (freely available online, but still copyrighted):

• Humanitarian Exchange [access]
• Journal of Humanitarian Assistance [access]
  
• Refuge: Canada's Periodical on Refugees [access]

These journal titles are gratis OA but access is delayed:

• International Review of the Red Cross [access]
• Intervention: International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial Work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict [access]
  

These journal titles are copyright-restricted, but back issues are available online through FMO:

• Disasters
• International Journal of Refugee Law
• International Migration Review
• Journal of Refugee Studies

Tagged Periodicals.