Open access (OA) refers to freely available, digital, online information. Open access scholarly literature is free of charge and often carries less restrictive copyright and licensing barriers than traditionally published works, for both the users and the authors. OA is a newer form of publishing but many of these journals comply with well-established peer-review processes and maintain high publishing standards. There are two types of OA, Gratis and Libre.Gratis means publications are available immediately online and free of charge. Libre means publications are available immediately online and free of charge but also includes re-use rights. Many traditional publishers are now offering OA options e.g. Elsevier, Springer and Taylor and Francis.
Some other benefits of publishing in an OA journal include:
Dec 6, 2016-More than 600 Springer Nature journals have adopted a new sharing, archiving and citation of research data "good practice" policy. For the full article written by Gary Price go to:
http://www.infodocket.com/2016/12/06/more-than-600-springer-nature-journals-adopt-new-data-sharing-policies/
To view the research data policies go to:
http://www.springernature.com/gp/group/data-policy/
Check out Peter Suber's overview of Open Access: http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm. Stuber is considered the main driver of the OA movement in publishing.