Open Access to Legal Scholarship: Dropping the Barriers to Discourse and Dialogue

Authors

Richard A. Danner, Duke Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2012

Keywords

open access, legal scholarship, Access Principle, law journals, open access repositories

Abstract

This article focuses on the importance of free and open access to legal scholarship and commentary on the law. It argues that full understanding of authoritative legal texts requires access to informed commentary as well as to the texts of the law themselves, and that free and open access to legal commentary will facilitate cross-border dialogue and foster international discourse in law. The paper discusses the obligations of scholars and publishers of legal commentary to make their work as widely accessible as possible. Examples of institutional and disciplinary repositories for legal scholarship are presented, as are the possible impacts of such initiatives as the Durham Statement on Open Access to Legal Scholarship.

Citation

Richard A. Danner, Open Access to Legal Scholarship: Dropping the Barriers to Discourse and Dialogue, 7 Journal of International Commercial Law & Technology 65-79 (2012)