International Open Access Week is a global, community-driven week of action to open up access to research. It was established by SPARC and partners (including EIFL) in the student community in 2008. The week is an opportunity to take action in making openness the default for research — to raise the visibility of scholarship, accelerate research, and turn breakthroughs into better lives. The event is celebrated by individuals, institutions and organizations across the world, and its organization is led by a global advisory committee. 

Universities, colleges, research institutes, funding agencies, libraries, and think tanks have all used Open Access Week as a platform to discuss Open Access policies, Open Science infrastructures, and more. The EIFL Open Access Programme is on the advisory committee, encourages libraries across the EIFL network to take part in Open Access Week, and helps them prepare for this exciting global event. The official hashtag of OA Week is #OAweek.