Origin, consolidation, expansion and implications of Open Access in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

In this paper, a synthesis of the previous ideas that made possible the origin of Open Access (OA) and that allowed its consolidation and expansion, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, was made. The main declarations related to OA were analyzed: the Budapest Initiative, the Bethesda and Berlin declarations, the Tunis Commitment, the Final Communiqué of the Science and Technology Policy for the 21st Century meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Salvador and Mar del Plata declarations. A synopsis was made of different resources that contribute to the development of OA in the region. Among them were Creative Commons licenses, GNU Documentation licenses, copyleft and some of its implications. The most widespread electronic libraries and repositories in the region were also considered: the SciELO Network (Scientific Electronic Library Online), the Latin American Social Sciences Virtual Libraries Network of Latin America and the Caribbean of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences, among others; in addition, a brief quantitative description of SciELO's growth was made. Then, the benefits resulting from the application of OA in Higher Education and its limitations were discussed. On the other hand, the importance of extrapolating OA to all content related to Higher Education was highlighted. Finally, a critical analysis of OA was made, considering it within the broader framework of digital inclusion and emphasizing the social appropriation of information and communication technologies.