UQ Library is a proud member of the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) . Originally formed over a decade ago, SPARC aimed to:

• drive down the cost of journals
• demonstrate that new journals could quickly establish quality
• prove that OA journals could successfully compete for authors
• stimulate increased publishing capacity in the not-for-profit sector
• encourage new players to enter publishing

Some of the recent SPARC success stories (taken from 2012 SPARC Letter to Members, 25 September 2012)

• Driver behind the effort to oppose the Research Works Act, legislation aimed at reversing the groundbreaking NIH public access policy, successfully rallying advocates and ensuring that the legislation was withdrawn by its Congressional sponsors - less than two months after being introduced.
• Spearheaded the simultaneous introduction of the bipartisan Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) into both the House and the Senate, and secured both a staff-level Briefing and a full, member-level Hearing on the legislation.
• Kept pressure on the White House to consider executive action on access to research, coordinating public response to a Request for Public Information (RFI) on the issue, and securing more than 30,000 signatures on a White House "We the People" petition calling for expansion of the NIH Public Access Policy.
• Brokered a partnership between the Committee for Economic Development and the Kaufman Foundation for Entrepreneurship, who collaborated on a well-received, independent analysis, "The Future of Taxpayer-Funded Research: Who Will Control Access to the Results?"
• Last year's successful reorganization of SPARC Europe paid dividends, with SPARC's Director of European Advocacy, Alma Swan, playing a key role in the roll-out of new Open Access Policies by the Research Councils United Kingdom and the European Commission.
• Participated in the landmark 10th Anniversary Meeting of the Budapest Open Access Initiative, helping to craft the strategic roadmap for the next 10 years of the Open Access Movement.Released new campus resources including practical and strategic guides such as "Library Publishing Services: Strategies for Success" to "You've Signed the Elsevier Boycott - Now What?" a guide for faculty action.