29 The Benefits of Open Access

Although it might be tempting to assume that limiting access to your thesis is the best choice, this often isn’t the case.  In fact, having your work available in an open access format can benefit you as a professional.  Harvard University Press  Assistant Editor Brian Distelberg has noted that discoverability can lead to interest in a project:

“I’m always looking out for exciting new scholarship that might make for a good book, whether in formally published journal articles and conference programs, or in the conversation on Twitter and in the history blogosphere, or in conversations with scholars I meet. And so, to whatever extent open access to a dissertation increases the odds of its ideas being read and discussed more widely, I tend to think it increases the odds of my hearing about them.” (“Can’t Find It, Can’t Sign It: On Dissertation Embargoes.” Harvard University Press Blog, July 2013.)

Having your thesis discoverable means a publisher might see and take an interest in your work.  Academic publishers are always on the lookout for new scholarship, and if yours isn’t available, they won’t be able to find it.  And finally, because scholarship benefits from the exchange of new ideas, the publication of your thesis allows your scholarly contributions to be made available for others.