Open Access with Chinese Characteristics: Understanding Recent History and Current Practice via Qualitative Interviews at a Large Chinese Research University

Abstract

Chinese scholars, administrators, and librarians possess nuanced understandings of what defines open access in China and the barriers that make wider adoption of open access difficult. When we say "open access" in the United States, we imply a complex set of underlying assumptions tied to the history and practice of scholarship. Saying "open access" in China brings with it a similarly complex set of assumptions, which may not be commensurate with the "open access" we speak of, and such 1:1 translation may not be possible or desirable given the unique historical, political, and linguistic differences between the world's two largest producers and consumers of scholarship. Through a careful analysis of our participants' observations and a review of the history and context of Chinese academic institutions, we posit that "open access with Chinese characteristics" describes a set of possibilities and constraints that determine how Chinese academics experience both the theoretical project and the practical distribution method we commonly call "open access." While these multiple understandings of "open access" may not converge on a single, shared meaning, we can endeavor to understand one another better in the service of creating and sharing knowledge.