Open Access Week 2026

International Open Access Week 2026 takes place from 19 to 25 October. This year’s theme is ‘The Cost of Knowledge’.

Open Access Week invites us to consider the financial, human and environmental costs of creating, sharing and sustaining knowledge. While access to and sharing of knowledge are essential to advancing human understanding and the common good, increasing commercial control and consolidation across the knowledge system continue to drive up costs. This year’s theme asks: who benefits, and how can we reclaim control of systems intended to serve the public interest?

The Cost of Knowledge: A conversation on open access

What does it mean to publish open access in 2026? Hear from a panel of UNSW researchers as they share their experiences of making their work openly available, from choosing where to publish and navigating publishing costs to using institutional repositories and embracing broader open research practices.

Framed by this year's Open Access Week theme, The Cost of Knowledge, the panel discussion will explore the opportunities and challenges of open access from the perspective of those doing the research and consider how more open approaches can support a greater equitable and sustainable scholarly publishing landscape.

Date and time: Thursday 22 October, 1pm to 2pm
Location: Online event
Panellists: 
Professor Tema Milstein (School of Humanities & Languages)
Dr Daniel Falster (School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences)
Facilitator: Fiona Glasgow, UNSW Library Scholarly Communications Manager

Planning to publish: An introduction to open access

Are you looking to make your research open? Join staff from UNSW Library for an approachable introduction to open access publishing. Learn about your publishing options, how to retain your author rights, and how UNSWorks can help make your work freely available and discoverable.

Date and time: Tuesday 20 October, 11 am to 12pm
Location: Online event
Presenters:
Fiona Glasgow, UNSW Library Scholarly Communications Manager
Jacinta Byrne, UNSW Library Research Experience Librarian

Publishing your research data at UNSW

Are you a researcher or HDR candidate who is interested in publishing your research dataset? Making your research dataset openly available helps support the reproducibility and integrity of your work, allows others to reuse your datasets and drives future research collaborations.

Join staff from UNSW Library for an introduction covering the benefits, options and steps involved in the process.

Date and time: Wednesday 21 October, 11am to 12pm
Location: Online event
Presenter: Gerry Devine, UNSW Library Research Data Manager

Peer into (Open) Research

How is research created, shared, and applied? This year's Open Access Week theme invites us to explore these questions and the barriers that can stand in the way.

Hear from Professor Deborah Blackman (Associate Dean Lifelong Learning, UNSW Canberra) and Associate Professor Ben Turnbull (DHOS (R) SysCom, UNSW Canberra) as they discuss their publishing journeys, share practical strategies for reaching audiences beyond academia, and explore how researchers can maximise the discovery, accessibility, and impact of their work.

Light refreshments included.

Date and time: Thursday 22 October, 4pm to 5pm
Location: Academy Library, B13, UNSW Canberra

Open Access Australasia will be holding five virtual events for Open Access Week with experts discussing a range of topics relating to the theme of 'The Cost of Knowledge', including surveillance, data sovereignty, and community-governed knoweldge in the age of AI.

For more information about the Open Access Australasia events and to register, visit Open Access Week 2026 Program of events.