Open Access Publishing
Increased Visibility via Open Access (OA)
What is open access publishing?
Open Access describes content that can be accessed free of charge. The aim of open access publishing is to ensure the free, immediate, permanent online access to the full text of research articles for all. There are 2 routes to open access publication:
- Open Access Journal Publishing
- Open Access Self Archiving
Open Access Journal Publishing
Open Access Journal Publishing is the means by which where journals provide OA to their articles 'either by charging the author-institution (this is known as the 'author pays' model) for refereeing/publishing outgoing articles instead of charging the user-institution for accessing incoming articles, or by simply making their online edition free for all'. Visit this link for a 'Very Brief Introduction to Open Access' by Peter Suber.
Finding Open Access Publications
- Search the Directory of Open Access Journals to locate OA publications. Coverage includes full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly open access journals in all subject disciplines.
- Many 'traditional' journals now offer an 'Open Access' or hybrid publishing option. Search for Hybrid Journals via the Directory of Open Access and Hybrid Journals.
Open Access Self Archiving
Open Access Self Archiving is the process by which authors provide OA to their own published articles, by making their own eprints free for all (see below) via an Eprints repository or institutional repository. See the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) article: Opening up Access to Research Results Questions & Answers.
What is an Eprint?
An Eprint is an electronic version of a research publication usually an article. It can be either a pre-print (an unrefereed or pre-published version of an article) or a post-print (a refereed article that has already been published or will be published in the future). Eprints can be deposited into online collections called E-Print Repositories, which are indexed to allow retrieval by search engines like Google.
The Benefits of Open Access for Researchers
- Improved access: increased uptake and impact through improved access to your research findings will improve the visibility of your research
- Quality and peer review processes are maintained by most OA journals (unless specified)
- The publication time-scale may be increased
- Enhanced funding potential: research funders increasingly recognise the benefits of increased return through improved access and impact. A number of funding bodies have issued mandates that require researchers to self-archive their research into a repository. You can view the self-archiving policies of various funding providers via Sherpa.
- Improved citation index: if your research is more visible it follows that it may be cited more thus boosting your citation index
The University working with the Library Service is currently developing an institutional repository. We will be working with you to harness the benefits of OA publishing as a means of capturing and increasing the visibility and impact of your research output.
