What is Open Access?

Introduction to Open Access

Open Access typically refers to scholarly communication and research outputs that are freely available to the public, without paywalls or the need for a subscription or access fee. A key part of open access is licensing. Many OA articles use Creative Commons (CC) licenses, which clearly state how others can use the work. The most common is CC BY (Attribution), which allows others to copy, share, and even adapt the work, as long as they give credit to the author.

Publishing Options

VU pays - free to read

Payment model supported by VU via Read & Publish agreement

Applies only to selected journals (see OA Database)

Often called Hybrid OA

Author pays - free to read

Author usually pays an Article Processing Charge (APC) at publication.

Often called Gold OA

Free to publish - pay to read

The traditional model.

Articles can only be read with a subscription or purchase

 Free to publish and read.

Usually on platforms such as Open Journal System, or by organisational publishers.

May be lower ranking journals

Referred to as Diamond OA

Free to publish - pay to read PLUS free to read version

Author deposits a version in an open repository such as VU Research Repository (VURR).

Deposit version is usually the author accepted manuscript and can be read for free on the internet, not in a journal.

Often mandated by funders.

Referred to as Green OA

Illegal free access.

Articles shared without permission via pirate sites such as Sci-Hub or sharing networks (eg ResearchGate).

May be subject to takedown notices.

Sometimes called Black OA