Intrinsic to Decolonisation topics is an embrace of inclusion and openness that is in tune with more general moves to open up access to research content. This is vitally important in ensuring that access to information & knowledge is not to just for elite research institutions in rich countries.

Research4Life is an initiative that commenced in 2002 and provides researchers in low and some middle income countries with access to publications that would otherwise be behind a paywall. Registration is required. Unfortunately, many of the leading commercial publishers in Europe & N. America are yet to sign up to this scheme.

Some of the specific resources listed elsewhere in this guide are open access resources, freely available to all. Some regions (e.g. Latin America) have strong traditions of open access to academic output, and the Area Studies subject guide links to some of the main resources available

In addition, there are well-known general portals such as Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) that have content relevant to Decolonisation. You can explore these general resources further on the Library's open access content page.

PhD dissertations are increasingly available through open access portals - try OATD or NDLTD - that tend to have broader coverage of countries compared to established databases like Proquest Dissertations (which focuses primarily on North America & UK). Many countries now have portals that provide open access, some of these national portals are listed on the library subject guides, and more extensive lists are available elsewhere

Policy documents are another important area, and the Policy Commons portal to publications from IGOs & NGOs has been making major efforts to include greater coverage from Africa (now includes over 160 NGOs) and is now similarly focusing on Asia.

Efforts to decolonise existing resources are also under way. The University of Arts London has initiated a Decolonising Wikipedia Network (only open to members of UAL).

Using a browser extension such as Unpaywall to find open versions of subscribed content can also be effective.