Technology has been a key driving force for change and emergence of new technology has brought a revolution in disseminating and sharing of research outputs at faster speed worldwide. Open access (OA) as a means for free availability of scholarly content via the Internet has enormous benefits accrue to the OA stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to review all activities that can sensitize researchers and the scholarly community at large regarding the new publishing opportunity for dissemination of their research outputs at faster speed. The paper examines the open access OA concept, characteristics of OA and its growth. It also discusses open access models, OA benefits and copyright in digital era. Critical analysis of the rational for copyright law and fair for dealing were examined. It was inferred that OA as an accelerator for innovation, helps speedy the translation of ideas into innovative new services, products and other commercial ventures that fuel economic growth.
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