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Asian and the Pacific
 Bangladesh

Introduction

Due to lack of IT infrastructure, most of the stakeholders are not aware of Open Access. Students and academics from few universities, such as American International University – Bangladesh are aware of open content development. The present Bangladesh Government has taken different initiatives for ICT development despite the barriers such as funding, and infrastructure development issues. Currently, 15 OA repositories from Bangladesh are listed in the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR). This includes the Dhaka University Institutional Repository and the Digital Repository of the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research. 

Prices of scientific journals and non-affordability further necessitate the need for Open Access content development.Bangladesh Journals Online (BanglaJol) currently list a total of 134 journals published in Bangladesh. As of March 2021, there are 21 OA journals indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) which are published in Bangladesh, while 197 OA journals are indexed in the Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources (ROAD).

Enabling Environment

Though only recently, information infrastructure is improving and hence enhances the possibility of achieving OA to information. There are at least two repositories reported viz., BRAC university Institutional repository and the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research Digital Repository (ICDDR). These are implemented on DSpace digital repository platform.

Potential Barriers

There is a sheer lack of IT infrastructure, funding and trained and employable populace that could contribute to OA.

Funding Mandate

As indicated in the Registry of Open Access Repositories Mandatory Archiving Policies (ROARMAP) and SHERPA/JULIET database of funders' OA policies, there is currently no national policy or Funding Mandate regarding OA. However, the Bangladesh government is actively supporting ICT applications.

Events and Programs

Past and Future OA related Activities

  • Bangla Wikipedia Open Access Week Edit-a-thon 2020

October 19, 2020 to October 25, 2020 – Bangladesh

Organized by Moheen Reeyad | Type: online, edit-a-thon, wikipedia, editing

  • EWU Library Celebrating International Open Access Week 2020 with a series of program

October 19, 2020 to October 25, 2020 – Bangladesh

Organized by EWU Library Team | Type: campaign on open access publishing practices”, , knowledge, competition”

October 26, 2019 all day – Bangladesh

Organized by OA Bangladesh | Type: seminer

October 26, 2019 from 3pm to 7pm – Bangladesh

Organized by Creative Commons Bangladesh Chapter | Type: conference

October 21, 2019 at 12am to October 27, 2019 at 11:45pm – Bangladesh

Organized by Moheen Reeyad | Type: online, edit-a-thon, wikipedia, editing

October 21, 2019 at 8am to October 24, 2019 at 5pm – Bangladesh

Organized by East West University Library | Type: essay, competition, campaign, booth, seminar

October 23, 2018 to October 24, 2018 – Bangladesh

Organized by East West University Library | Type: quiz, competition, campaign

 

October 22, 2018 to October 28, 2018 – Bangladesh

Organized by Wikimedia Bangladesh | Type: online

 

October 24, 2016 from 4pm to 5pm – Bangladesh

Organized by East West University Library | Type: discussion

 

  • Journal Quality Workshop facilitated by INASP's Sioux Cumming and Andy Nobes; Partners: Bangladesh Academy of Sciences; June 22-24, 2014.

  • Workshop on "Monitoring and Evaluation of Electronic Resource Use (MEERU)"; March 18-20, 2014. The workshop provided participants with the skills to collect usage data from their institution to inform the selection and renewal of online resource subscriptions.

  • Workshop on "Developing Research Communication Skills and Ethical Considerations"; Partners: Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University; February 18-20, 2014.

  • Workshop on "Improving research Communication Skills"; Partners: Bangladesh Association of Plant Taxonomists; February 23-24, 2014. This was an AuthorAID workshop aimed at young researchers in Bangladesh.Publications

Publications

  • Baroi, H. S., S. Alam, and C. Bernal. 2018. “Can an Open Access Approach Be the Solution to Better Implementation of the Right to Information Act in Bangladesh?” Asia Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law 19(1):45–68. doi: 10.1163/15718158-01901003.

  • Elahi, M. H., and M. Mezbah-ul-Islam. 2018. “Open Access Repositories of Bangladesh: An Analysis of the Present Status.” IFLA Journal 44(2):132–42. doi: 10.1177/0340035218763952.

  • Haque, M. M., and M. M. Islam. 1994. “Open Access Endoscopy: Diagnostic Role in Upper Gastrointestinal Disorders.” Tropical Doctor 24(2):86. doi: 10.1177/004947559402400223.

  • Hossen, M., and S. Saha. 2017. “Thread Guaranteed Algorithm for Real Time Traffic in Multi-Threaded Polling of PON-Based Open Access Network.” Pp. 290–95 in ECCE 2017 - International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Communication Engineering.

  • Islam, M. A., and R. Akter. 2013. “Institutional Repositories and Open Access Initiatives in Bangladesh: A New Paradigm of Scholarly Communication.” LIBER Quarterly 23(1):3–24. doi: 10.18352/lq.8245.

  • Islam, M. S., S. S. S. Mousumi, N. A. Jessan, A. S. A. Rabby, S. Abujar, and S. A. Hossain. 2019. “Ishara-Bochon: The First Multipurpose Open Access Dataset for Bangla Sign Language Isolated Digits.” Communications in Computer and Information Science 1035:420–28. doi: 10.1007/978-981-13-9181-1_37.

  • Mahmud, Abdullah-Al-, A. K. M. Eamin Ali Akanda, M. A. Haque, A. K. M. Eamin Ali Akanda, and D. Begum. 2020. “Awareness and Use of Open Access Resources in Higher Education and Scholarly Research: Faculties versus Students Perspectives.” Library Philosophy and Practice 2020:1–16.

  • Manzurul Haque, M., and M. Moidul Islam. 1994. “Open Access Endoscopy: Diagnostic Role in Upper Gastrointestinal Disorders [10].” Tropical Doctor 24(2):86.

  • Miah, Y., C. N. E. Prima, S. J. Seema, M. Mahmud, and M. Shamim Kaiser. 2021. “Performance Comparison of Machine Learning Techniques in Identifying Dementia from Open Access Clinical Datasets.” Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 1188:79–89. doi: 10.1007/978-981-15-6048-4_8.

  • Shuva, N. Z., and R. Taisir. 2016. “Faculty Members’ Perceptions and Use of Open Access Journals: Bangladesh Perspective.” IFLA Journal 42(1):36–48. doi: 10.1177/0340035216628879.

  • Takata, J., P. Sondo, G. S. Humphreys, R. Burrow, B. Maguire, M. S. Hossain, D. Das, R. J. Commons, R. N. Price, and P. J. Guerin. 2020. “The Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network Clinical Trials Publication Library: A Live, Open-Access Database of Plasmodium Treatment Efficacy Trials.” American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 103(1):359–68. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.19-0706.

  • Uddin, M. N., T. L. P. Koehlmoos, and S. A. S. Hossain. 2014. “Bangladesh: An Overview of Open Access (OA) Initiatives.” Library Philosophy and Practice 2014(1).

  • Uddin, R. 2014. “Do Submissions Entitled to an Auto-Waiver Take More Time to Be Accepted by Open Access Journals?” BMC Research Notes 7(1). doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-238.