Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment. Open-access literature is free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Open Access as making it freely available on the public Internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose. Non-commercial use and distribution in any medium is permitted, provided the author and the journal are properly credited.