Publishing and Peer Review › Module 1: Where to publish
Open access
Lesson 3 of 3 · 2 min
Open access (OA) means anyone can read a paper online for free. Research that is OA reaches more readers, including people in places that can't afford journal subscriptions.
The main types
| Type | How it works | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | The journal publishes the paper openly | Often the author, via an article processing charge (APC) |
| Green | You post a copy (often the accepted manuscript) in a repository | Usually free |
| Diamond | The journal is free to read and free to publish in | Funded by institutions or societies |
| Hybrid | A subscription journal makes your paper OA for a fee | The author |
- Gold
- How it works: The journal publishes the paper openly
- Who pays: Often the author, via an article processing charge (APC)
- Green
- How it works: You post a copy (often the accepted manuscript) in a repository
- Who pays: Usually free
- Diamond
- How it works: The journal is free to read and free to publish in
- Who pays: Funded by institutions or societies
- Hybrid
- How it works: A subscription journal makes your paper OA for a fee
- Who pays: The author
APCs at well-known journals can cost thousands of US dollars. Many publishers offer waivers or discounts for authors from lower-income countries, and many universities have agreements that cover fees.
Funder rules
Many funders now require OA. Plan S, launched in 2018 by a group of research funders (cOAlition S), requires immediate open access for research they fund.
Green OA: check what you're allowed
Publishers set rules on which version you can post (preprint, accepted manuscript, final PDF) and when. The Sherpa Romeo database lists each publisher's policy.
Licences
Most OA papers use CC BY, which lets others reuse the work with credit (as you learned in Reproducible Research).
RememberOpen access means free to read. Choose gold, green or diamond, check fees and waivers, and check what version you may post.