The COAPI Cats: The Current State of Open Access Repository Movement and Policy Documentations

Abstract

The paper investigates open access (OA) self archiving policies of different Open Access Repositories (OARs) of COAPI (Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions) founder members as reported in June 2011 (i.e. a total of 22 members against a total of 46 COPAI members as reported by Open Biomed (http://openbiomed.info/2011/08/coapi-cats/). The paper consulted three databases (OpenDOAR, ROAR and ROARMAP) in order to evaluate twenty-two (22) COAPI-members OARs self archiving policy documentations and highlights of some progress on issues so far. After analyzing policy documentations, key findings have been highlighted and common practices have been suggested in line with global recommendations and best practice guidelines at national and international levels for strengthening national research systems. The paper has implications for administrators, funding agencies, policy makers and professional librarians in devising institute specific self archiving policies for their own organization.