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Open Access: Home

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Introduction to Open Access

Definition

"Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment. Open Access ensures that anyone can access and use these results—to turn ideas into industries and breakthroughs into better lives." (Definition retrieved from https://sparcopen.org/open-access/).

Publication Models

Subscription

Subscription publication is not open access. Content is closed, meaning it is placed behind a paywall, and readers or institutions must pay a fee for access. Authors are usually required to sign a copyright transfer.

Gold

Journals that use a Gold OA model are fully open, meaning all content is free to access. Authors are required to pay an article processing charge (APC) upon acceptance as a condition of publication. Authors are usually asked to sign an exclusive or non-exclusive license, and select a creative commons license for their work.

Hybrid

Hybrid journals publish both closed and open content. Upon acceptance, authors are given a choice to either publish for free behind the journal paywall, or pay an APC to make their individual article open access. For works published behind a paywall, authors are usually asked to sign a copyright transfer. If an author opts to pay an APC to make their work open, they are usually asked to sign an exclusive or non-exclusive agreement and select a creative commons license.

Diamond

Also known as Platinum OA. Under this model, journal content is free for readers to access and free for authors to publish. Diamond OA journals are often supported by societies, research institutions, and funding grants.

Green

Green OA Is repository-based open access. Where the final published article is locked behind a paywall, authors may choose to deposit the peer-reviewed accepted version in an institutional or other repository. Readers who hit a paywall when trying to access research can be redirected to the open version via platforms like Google Scholar. Green OA is compatible with the Tri-Agency OA Policy.

Bronze

Journals that make content free to read at their own discretion and without an open license. As an example, publishers and journals that temporarily made their content free to readers during the COVID-19 pandemic were providing Bronze Open Access to their collections. Authors are typically asked to sign a copyright transfer.

 

 

 

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