Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A dataset deposited under a CC BY license is technically open access from its date of first open access onward; if the repository later migrates platforms and the file link breaks, or the surviving copy is in a deprecated file format nobody can open, the dataset's access has failed even though its open-access status has not changed on paper.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A journal article behind a publisher paywall that a university library subscribes to is accessible to that university's researchers -- they can retrieve, read, and download it -- but it is not open access, because access still depends on the subscribing institution's payment rather than being open to any reader.
Editorial commentary
Access, in CASRAI’s open-access vocabulary, is the continued, available-for-use usability of a digital resource — retaining the authenticity, accuracy, and functionality needed for the purpose it was created or acquired for. A user who has access can retrieve, read, copy, and store the resource, rather than simply knowing it exists.
Used this way, “access” is broader and more technical than “open access.” Open access is a specific rights and licensing status — a resource made freely available with reduced copyright/licensing restrictions — while “access” more generally describes whether a resource is actually usable at all, regardless of what it costs or what license governs it. A paywalled article a subscriber can read is accessed, even though it is not open access; conversely, a technically open-licensed file on a repository that has gone offline is open access in name but not, in practice, accessible.
Where access sits on the open-to-closed spectrum
Most of CASRAI’s open-access vocabulary describes gradations of access rather than a strict binary:
- At one end, closed access restricts a resource behind a paywall or subscription.
- An embargo restricts access only temporarily, converting to open access once its date of end of embargo passes.
- At the other end, full open access removes both price and most permission barriers, sometimes from the point of first publication (see born open access).
The record of when each of these states begins and ends — date of online publication, date of deposit, date of start of embargo, date of end of embargo, and date of first open access — is what lets a repository, funder, or research office demonstrate exactly when access changed.
Why “access” matters beyond open access policy
Because access is defined in terms of continued usability rather than just permission, it also covers digital preservation concerns that a pure licensing definition would miss: file format obsolescence, broken links, platform discontinuation, and lost metadata can all make a nominally “open” resource inaccessible in practice. Research offices and institutional repositories maintaining long-term access commitments — for compliance with funder mandates, or simple stewardship — generally track both dimensions: the permissions layer (is this openly licensed?) and the usability layer (can this actually still be retrieved and used?).
Worked example
A dataset deposited in an institutional repository under a CC BY license is technically open access from its date of first open access onward. If the repository migrates platforms and the file link breaks, or the only surviving copy is in a deprecated proprietary format nobody can open, the dataset’s access has failed even though its open-access status, on paper, has not changed.
Counter-example
A journal article behind a publisher paywall that a university library has paid to subscribe to is accessible to that university’s researchers — they can retrieve, read, and download it — but it is not open access, because access still depends on the subscribing institution’s payment rather than being open to any reader.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is “access” the same as “open access”?
No. Access describes whether a resource is actually retrievable and usable. Open access describes a specific licensing and cost status (freely available, minimal permission barriers). A resource can be accessible without being open access (a paid subscription), and in principle a resource can be nominally open access yet inaccessible in practice (a broken link or an obsolete file format).
What can break access to an otherwise open resource?
Link rot, platform migrations or shutdowns, obsolete file formats, and lost or incomplete metadata are the most common causes — none of which involve a change in licensing terms.
Who is responsible for maintaining access over time?
For deposited research outputs, that responsibility typically sits with whichever repository or archive holds the copy — see institutional repository and subject repository — operating under its own preservation policy, often as a condition of funder or institutional mandates.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Access"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/access" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/access",
"name": "Access",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/access",
"description": "The continued, available for use, ongoing usability of a digital resource, retaining all qualities of authenticity, accuracy and functionality deemed to be essential for the purposes the digital material was created and/or acquired for. Users who have access can retrieve, manipulate, copy, and store copies on a wide range of hard drives and external devices.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-lifecycle#set",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/access",
"sameAs": [],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"publisher": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
},
"dateModified": "2026-08-17T01:58:36",
"inLanguage": "en"
}
