Open Access Button
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| Open Access Button | |
|---|---|
| Name | Open Access Button |
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founders | Joseph McArthur, David Carroll |
| Headquarters | London |
| Services | Access tracking, article requests, advocacy |
Open Access Button is a web and mobile service that tracks instances of paywalled scholarly literature and helps users obtain legal free copies while collecting data on access barriers. It operates at the intersection of Open access (publishing), academic publishing reform and digital rights activism, engaging with researchers, libraries, funders and policy makers. The project has interacted with a range of organizations including Wellcome Trust, Public Library of Science, SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), European Research Council, and university libraries such as University of Oxford and Harvard University Library.
History
The initiative was launched in 2013 following a campaign by student activists and technologists reacting to disputes involving Elsevier, ResearchGate, and subscription models highlighted during debates around the Gates Foundation and NIH Public Access Policy. Early development drew on precedents set by initiatives like Sci-Hub controversy-adjacent discussions, projects such as Unpaywall and advocacy networks including Right to Research Coalition and Students for Free Culture. The project received attention during events like Open Access Week and conferences including FORCE11 and OpenCon, and collaborated with institutional allies such as University College London and Imperial College London on pilots. Over time it expanded from a bookmarklet and browser extension to native apps and partnerships with funders such as the Wellcome Trust and philanthropic programs connected to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Functionality and Features
The service enables users to report paywalls encountered while attempting to access articles published by publishers such as Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley-Blackwell, Taylor & Francis, and SAGE Publications. It aggregates metadata from sources including CrossRef, PubMed, DOAJ, and institutional repositories at places like Cornell University and MIT to locate legal copies. Features include automated searches for preprints on platforms like bioRxiv, arXiv, and medRxiv; search of repository aggregators such as SHERPA/RoMEO and CORE; and messaging templates for article request emails directed to corresponding authors at institutions like Max Planck Society and French National Centre for Scientific Research. The interface records geolocation and access-denied incidents to generate datasets used by advocacy groups such as SPARC Europe, policy researchers at Wellcome Trust, and librarians at Columbia University.
Technology and Platform
The platform was developed using web technologies common to projects incubated in environments like GitHub, with code contributions from communities linked to Mozilla and open-source toolchains used by The Apache Software Foundation. It integrates APIs from CrossRef REST API, Unpaywall API, and indexing services maintained by organizations such as Europe PMC and PubMed Central. The stack has used frameworks and databases employed by repositories at Duraspace-affiliated institutions and cloud infrastructure providers used by universities including University of California system and University of Melbourne. Security and privacy practices reflect standards advocated by Electronic Frontier Foundation and data principles discussed at ICPSR workshops.
Impact and Usage
Data collected by the service has been cited in analyses by groups including SPARC, Wellcome Trust, and policy units within the European Commission to document access barriers at institutions including Stanford University and University of Toronto. Usage metrics have informed discussions in journals such as Nature, PLoS ONE, and The Lancet and at conferences like Researcher to Reader Forum and Open Repositories. Collaborations with library consortia such as CARL (Canadian Association of Research Libraries) and UK Research and Innovation have supported advocacy campaigns and reforms in funder mandates similar to the Plan S framework. The platform’s request-making feature has facilitated direct article delivery in cases involving authors affiliated with Max Planck Institute, CNRS, and University of Cambridge.
Funding and Governance
Funding has combined small grants and philanthropy from entities like Wellcome Trust and community donations, alongside in-kind support from academic partners such as University of Sussex and technology contributions from developer communities associated with Mozilla Science Lab. Governance has involved partnerships with nonprofits and advisory input from librarians and open-access advocates connected to SPARC, Right to Research Coalition, and researchers funded by agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the European Research Council. Organizational structure has reflected typical nonprofit arrangements seen at organizations like Creative Commons.
Criticism and Limitations
Critics have noted limitations similar to those raised about Unpaywall and other discovery tools: incomplete coverage compared with commercial aggregators like Web of Science and Scopus, potential for metadata errors linked to sources such as CrossRef or institutional repositories at smaller institutions, and dependence on voluntary contributions echoing sustainability debates faced by arXiv and CORE. Legal scholars referencing disputes around Sci-Hub controversy and publisher enforcement actions have questioned whether request-driven models can scale without changes in policies exemplified by debates over NIH Public Access Policy and initiatives like Plan S. Privacy advocates associated with EFF and data governance experts at ICPSR have recommended transparency about collected usage data and robust consent practices.