What is Open Access?
An Overview
Focusing on Open Access to Peer-Reviewed Research Articles and their Preprints
(Peter Suber)
This is an introduction to open access (OA) for those who are new to the concept. Hope it's short enough to read, long enough to be useful, and organized to let you skip around and dive into detail only where you want detail. It doesn't cover every nuance or answer every objection. But for those who read it, it should cover enough territory to prevent the misunderstandings that delayed progress in our early days.
If this overview is still too long, then see my very brief introduction to OA. It's available in 20+ languages and should print out on just one page, depending on your font size. If these pieces are too short, see my other writings on OA, including Open Access (MIT Press, 2012), my book-length introduction to OA. The book home page includes links to OA editions and a continually growing collection of updates and supplements.
http://www.planta.cn/forum/files_planta/what_is_open_accessan_overview_2004_162.pdf