MIT Open Access Task Force

“The MIT Ad Hoc Task Force on Open Access to MIT’s Research, chaired by Class of 1922 Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Hal Abelson and Director of Libraries Chris Bourg, will lead an Institute-wide discussion of ways in which current MIT open access policies and practices might be updated or revised to further the Institute’s mission of disseminating the fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible.”

—MIT News

See the full Charge to the MIT Ad Hoc Task Force on Open Access to MIT’s Research.

Task Force Implementation Team releases progress report

November 9, 2020

The OA task force implementation team, formed in December 2019, has released a report on its progress over the last year. 

Task Force releases final recommendations

October 17, 2019

The OA task force has released its final recommendations, which aim to support and increase the open sharing of MIT publications, data, software, and educational materials. Read Provost Martin Schmidt's announcement and today's MIT News story. 

Task Force releases draft recommendations

March 18, 2019

The OA task force has released a set of draft recommendations that aim to support and increase the open sharing of MIT publications, data, software, and educational materials. They are available for public comment until April 17.

If you have comments or ideas, submit them to the task force idea bank, on the PubPub site, or via email to the task force. All members of the MIT community are invited to share their feedback on the recommendations at an open forum on Wednesday, April 10, 3–4:30 p.m. in Building 56-114.

Task Force releases white paper 

Open Access at MIT and Beyond: A White Paper of the MIT Ad Hoc Task Force on Open Access to MIT's Research

In Sept 2018, the OA task force released a white paper examining efforts at MIT, in the United States, and in Europe to make research and scholarship openly and freely available. The paper provides a backdrop to the ongoing work of the task force: identifying new, updated, or revised open access policies and practices. 

If you have comments or ideas, submit them via the task force idea bank or via email to the task force.

Open Access Task Force membership

Co-chairs

  • Hal Abelson, Class of 1922 Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  • Chris Bourg, Director of Libraries

Members

  • Peter Bebergal, Technology Licensing Officer, Technology Licensing Office
  • Robert Bond, Chief Technology Officer, Lincoln Laboratory
  • Herng Yi Cheng '18, Department of Mathematics (2017-2018)
  • Isaac Chuang, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Senior Associate Dean of Digital Learning
  • Christopher Cummins, Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry
  • Deborah Fitzgerald, Leverett Howell and William King Cutten Professor of the History of Technology, Program in Science, Technology, and Society
  • Mark Jarzombek, Professor, Department of Architecture
  • Nick Lindsay, Director of Journals and Open Access, The MIT Press
  • Tom Pollard, Postdoctoral Associate, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
  • Jack Reid G '18, Technology and Policy and Aeronautics and Astronautics
  • Karen Shirer, Chief of Staff, Office of the Vice President for Research
  • Bernhardt Trout, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
  • Matthew Vander Heiden, Associate Professor, Department of Biology
  • Eric von Hippel, T Wilson (1953) Professor in Management, Sloan School of Management
  • Jaren D. Wilcoxson, Counsel, Office of the General Counsel

Staff to the committee: Ellen Finnie, Head, Scholarly Communications and Collections Strategy, Libraries; Katharine Dunn, Scholarly Communications Librarian, Libraries

Subgroups of the Open Access Task Force

  • Contracts/Licensing
  • Data
  • Educational Materials and Code
  • Scholarly Publications

Shape the future of Open Access

Do you have a suggestion, idea, or question that might improve open access? Share it in our idea bank.

Submit an idea