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Open Access in Academia

Information and Resources on Open Access

What is Open Access Publishing?

What is Open Access Publishing?

Open Accessing (OA) Publishing makes the results of expert research from academia immediately, freely, and widely available for public benefit. This contrasts with traditional academic publishing which places cost and permission barriers upon readers – barriers that deny or limit access and reuse, effectively hindering growth of knowledge in a field, development of further research, and innovation.


This page describes Open Access (OA) Publishing in relation to scholarly journals and journal articles.


What is "free" in Open Access?

The concept of “free” in Open Access (OA) relates to how much is allowed for reader access and permission to use and reuse. The terms Gratis and Libre help clarify the concept:

  • Gratis:
The “free” that is Gratis OA removes price barriers. Readers can access and read an article without any payment. Permission to use and reuse does not go beyond what is considered legitimate under copyright and fair use.
  • Libre:
The “free” that is Libre OA removes price and permission barriers. Libre OA allows reading without payment, and readers are granted the broadest permissions for use and reuse through the Creative Commons Attribution-Only license (CC-BY).

Open Access in its fullest intended sense provides Libre OA for readers. However, in practice, there are also many OA journals that are Gratis paired with use permissions that are less liberal than the CC-BY license.


Supporting Open Access (OA) via OA Publishing

Faculty and student researchers can support Open Access (OA) through two paths of OA publishing: Gold and Green.

  • Gold OA:

Gold OA is based on an author publishing their work in an OA journal. The Gold OA path makes the article immediately available Gratis or Libre to readers, depending on the OA journal. Publication costs still exist for the publisher, and a common but not ubiquitous way that OA publishers cover costs is through Article Processing Charges (APCs) that are directed at authors.


 Tips for Gold OA publishing:

  • Many funding agencies allow researchers to use their research grant award to pay for APCs. Additional ways to handle APCs will depend on a specific OA journal or an author’s institution.
  • Green OA:

Green OA is repository-based and starts with an author’s work being accepted or being published in a traditional, non-OA journal. Through Green OA, an author can still make their research more accessible by self-archiving the work, usually to a web site or digital repository. Most traditional journals allow self-archiving but it’s important for an author to check the publisher’s policy about whether, which version, and when the work can be self-archived. Green OA is a cost-free, access-enhancing solution for articles published in traditional journals.


Tips for Green OA publishing:

  • Check publisher open access policies:
    • Sherpa Romeo - Summaries of publisher and journal self-archiving permissions and conditions of rights given to authors.
    • You can also contact a publisher directly to ask what their open access policy is and if you are allowed to self-archive. Make sure you get this information from the publisher in writing.

Additional Resources for Understanding and Exploring OA Publishing

Articles, Reports, Videos, and More

  • The Open Access Directory (OAD)
    • A compendium of simple factual lists about open access (OA) to science and scholarship, maintained by the OA community at large. Lists are hyperlinked for further exploration. Hosted by the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University.
  • Pathways to Open Access
    • A 2018 report prepared by the University of California Libraries. Discusses Gold and Green OA pathways in detail, including benefits and challenges.

Understanding Gold and Green Open Access (Video, 3 minutes)

Books for further reading