The aim of Open Access is to make scientific and scholarly literature and materials freely accessible to all internet users – that is, to make them accessible online free of charge and as free of technical and legal barriers as possible. One essential aspect of OA is the maximisation of the dissemination of scientific and scholarly information, as called for in the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. This declaration has been signed by swissuniversities (Swiss Conference of Higher Education Institutions) and the Swiss National Science Foundation.
The transition to Open Access is an important issue in Switzerland: swissuniversities, the Rectors' Conference of Swiss Higher Education Institutions, has elaborated a national Open Access Strategy and an Action Plan together with the Swiss National Science Foundation and the university libraries. The SNSF supports the principle of open electronic knowledge nationally and internationally by requiring grantees to provide open access to research results obtained with the help of SNSF grants.
SNSF dossier Open Access to publication
swissuniversities dossier Open Access and its Swiss national strategyon Open Access signed with SFSF
Swiss National Strategy on Open Access is a paper published by swissuniversities and the SNSF
SWIR publication Open Access edited a report "Publishing, Commerce, and the Scientific Ethos"