The MIT faculty established their open access policy as an expression of their commitment “to disseminating the fruits of [their] research and scholarship as widely as possible,” and in the five years since the policy was established, readers have indeed been accessing MIT faculty articles from all around the world.

Recent comments from readers across the globe reflect the value of this open access:

Graduate student, Uganda: “I am grateful for making your online information resources freely accessible. I am a graduate student of labour studies and have greatly benefited from your noble generosity.”

Private researcher, Australia: “[I am] a disabled engineer researching gravity and inertia… My research is hampered by one thing alone, paywalls.”

Undergraduate student, Brazil:
“I am most thankful to MIT for freely sharing so many articles, for this attitude not only helps scientific knowledge to be disseminated across the globe,” but it also “inspire[s] those students who, like myself, do not have a chance of paying for many of these publications. MIT is not only sharing knowledge, it is helping those in need on the pursuing of their dreams.”

Doctor and master’s degree student, Italy: “Your material is precious, thank you very much.”

Access is important in the US as well. An independent researcher and open source developer in the US comments that he and a colleague researching in the same area “can each make more progress on our own, and collaborate together, more effectively thanks to the availability of a critical article.”

More reader comments are posted on the scholarly publishing website.

This news is being shared in celebration of International Open Access Week.