Why open access to research is important for Kazakhstan

What is it about?

This article uses 21 ethnographic interviews to understand how professors in post-Soviet Kazakhstan access books and journal articles from abroad. It describes how social scientists have to adjust their research habits when they become "expatriates," and describes the workarounds they use to maintain access to research materials.

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Why is it important?

The article is useful for librarians, publishers, and policy-makers seeking to understand why "open access" to information is necessary to social scientists. It describes what happens when even scholars at universities with extensive database subscriptions cannot access books and articles, and advocates for national and international policies that would open up research results to scholars around the world.