Open source, open access and software patent for scholarly publications: Implications for developing countries

 

Anyaogu Uluocha* and Ali Hussaini

 

Review Article | Published August 2014

Journal of Educational Research and Reviews, Vol. 2(5), pp. 66-71

 

 

Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of Lagos Campus, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.

 

*Corresponding author. Email: uluanyaogu@yahoo.com.  

 

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Scholarly publishing has been extensively used by many generations of scholars for self promotion and publicity, networking, the creation and development of new knowledge, announcement of ownership of research output, justification for funding, and proof of the existence of a scholar or department/research unit, among other reasons. Although, scholarly publishing is not a new concept, accessibility of scholarly publications through open access and open source is, and many scholars still struggle to embrace it for promoting the dissemination and visibility of their research output in developing countries. Open access and open source software have made research articles in all academic fields freely available on the internet, allowing reuse, the right of any one to reproduce and redirect the original article without the publishers consent. These positive traits have been challenged by software patents. This paper discusses various issues and challenges of e-scholarly publications, focusing on open access, open source software and software patents and its implications for developing countries.