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Open Access: Gold OA

“Access without payment to the version of record of a publication via the publisher’s own platform... is often called gold open access”

Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications (The Finch Report), 2012

Is it Gold for me?


gold sunrise

'Gold' open access refers to work which is free to read and download from the publisher's website, with an open licence to facilitate re-use.

 

Publishers who offer a gold route often recoup their costs by charging the author a fee when their work is accepted for publication.  Open access fees, known as article processing charges (APCs), typically range between £200 - £5000, depending the discipline and the journal. 

 

Waivers or discounts may be offered to authors without any means of payment, or who are contributing to the success of the publication in other ways (e.g. an invited contribution, editorial/reviewer duties, or society membership).

 

Certain research funders offer financial support to funded authors to pay APCs.

Some publishers enter into local or national agreements with libraries to convert subscription fees into APC waivers for authors at the subscribing institution.

For University of Hull authors with no other means of payment for open access fees, a pilot Open Access Support Fund has been launched for 2023-24, exclusively for articles in 'fully gold' open access journals.  Further information and eligibility criteria.

 

Open access platforms which don't charge fees to authors are known as 'diamond' OA.  Many 'diamond' publishers rely on financial support from a charity, scholarly/professional institution or research funding body. The global Directory of Open Access Journals recognises over 400 diamond OA titles (2022), ranging from multidisciplinary (e.g. Sustainable Environmental Research, from BMC) to highly specialised (e.g. Radical Americas, from UCL Press).


The  'green' route to open access should not be overlooked, as there are no costs to the author or their funder.  Publish your paper in a journal which derives its income from subscribers rather than authors, and take advantage of any terms in your agreement to publish which enable you to self-archive your paper in an accredited OA repository.

Choosing where to publish

The authoritative, independent, non-profit Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) maintains a searchable list of titles with a DOAJ Seal, demonstrating best practice in gold OA publishing.  You can filter by subject discipline, language, country of publication and more.

Many scholarly publishers provide a directory of their own gold OA and/or 'hybrid' (partly OA) titles. Start from their 'instructions for contributors' for more information about licence terms and article processing charges.

If you are targeting a specific journal, search the SHERPA Romeo database (funded by Jisc) for a summary of authors' options for gold or green open access.

Choosing a licence

A key part of publishing open access material is ensuring that readers understand what permissions they have for re-use of the material. The Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association offers best practice guidelines on licensing and attribution in open access:

Predatory Publishers

Beware of predatory publishers who "lie about their business practices for the purpose of attracting paying authors"  (Rick Anderson, 2019).  If you receive an unsolicited invitation to submit a paper to a journal you don't recognise, treat it with suspicion.

Recommended reading:

 

Think. Check. Submit. is a tool developed by scholarly publishers and societies,  to offer researchers a checklist that will help them decide if a publisher is trustworthy:

Think. Check. Submit.

Who Can Help?

Staff who administer the Library's Periodicals collection can advise on the terms of the University's OA publishing agreements and the availability of financial support from research funders: periodicals@hull.ac.uk

Library staff responsible for collection management in Repository@Hull (Worktribe) can assist with record editing and file deposit:  repository@hull.ac.uk

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