Open Access / Open Source Orthopedics

Christian Veillette M.D., M.Sc., FRCSCAssistant Professor, University of TorontoShoulder & Elbow Reconstructive Surgery

Toronto Western Hospital University Health NetworkEmail: orthonet@gmail.com

Objectives

• Define Open Access / Open Source• Demonstrate the barriers to knowledge

translation created by commercial copyright• Provide overview of the alternatives to standard

copyright• Demonstrate the value of Open Access / Open

Source– Citation advantage

• Provide overview of Orthopaedia– collaborative hypermedia workspace

What is OS/OA?

• Open source– process for the collective production and sharing of

knowledge– generally associated with the production of computer

code in ways made possible by the internet and computer networking

– made popular through the success of projects such as Apache and Linux 

• Open access– refers to scholarly literature that is produced digitally,

posted online and, generally, available free of charge– content is also free of most copyright and licensing

restrictions

Open Access (OA)

• Open access (OA) to scientific literature means removal of barriers (including price barriers) from accessing scholarly work - G. Eysenbach

• Two parallel “roads” towards OA– OA journals

• make published articles immediately freely available on Web site

• model mostly funded by charges paid by the author (research grant)

– Self-archiving• to publish in a traditional journal, where only subscribers

have immediate access• make the article available on personal and/or institutional

Web sites

Barriers to Knowledge Translation

• Open access removes knowledge dissemination barriers

• Closes KT feedback loop

Citation Advantage of OA

• Eysenbach G (2006) Citation Advantage of Open Access Articles. PLoS Biol 4(5): e157

• OA articles compared to non-OA articles more likely to be cited – first 4–10 mo after publication - odds ratio = 2.1– 10–16 mo after publication – odds ratio = 2.9

• Articles published as immediate OA article on the journal site have higher impact than self-archived or otherwise openly accessible OA articles

• OA articles more immediately recognized and cited by peers than non-OA articles published in same journal

Alternatives to Standard Copyright• GNU Free Documentation License

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License– Used for Wikipedia– designed for manuals, textbooks, instructional materials, and

documentation for GPL software

• Creative Commons Licenseshttp://creativecommons.org/

OrthoPaedia

• Collaborative orthopaedic knowledgebase

• Based on wiki framework– Popular in enterprise collaboration– anyone with access to an Internet-connected

computer can edit, correct, or improve information throughout the workspace

– hyperlinks to pages with related content are automatically created

http://www.orthopaedia.info

Orthopaedia.info

How to contribute

• Send email to orthonet@gmail.com with request to become contributor– Attach copy of CV

• Once account created/access granted:– Add a new article– Edit an existing article– Upload a presentation from rounds– Invite your fellow residents to contribute

Thank you

The Orthopaedic Internet:

A Collaborative Resource