BU Research Blog

Today is the start of International Open Access Week 2026, an initiative which aims to drive momentum for the open sharing of research knowledge.

International Open Access Week is an annual opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned, and to help inspire wider participation in Open Access.

This year’s theme is “The Cost of Knowledge”. The Open Access website explores this theme, noting that ‘we create and share knowledge in order to advance human understanding and the common good. We recognize that accessing and sharing knowledge is a human right. Yet, the costs to access and share knowledge continue to increase, often dramatically. Why? Who benefits?’

Open access publishing allows research to be disseminated quickly and widely, the research process to operate more efficiently, and increases the use and understanding of research by business, government, charities and the wider public.

We are committed to open access research at BU and strive to make our research findings and data as accessible as possible.

We’ll be sharing content on the research blog throughout the week so you can find out more about open access at BU and how we support open research.

You’ll also be able to drop in and chat to staff involved in supporting open access at BU in two drop-in sessions:

• BGB Ground floor (Bournemouth Gateway Building) from 12:30pm – 1:30pm on Tuesday 20 October.
• FG20 (Fusion Building) from 12:30pm – 1:30pm on Thursday 22 October.

No need to sign up – just drop by!

There are also a range of external events are taking place nationally and globally as part of the week.