Open access journal articles
There are several ways to make your journal articles open access – and options for each stage of an article’s lifecycle. Understanding these options can help you choose the route that works best for your article, goals, audience, and funding requirements.
Article versions and open access
When a research article is written and published, it usually exists in several versions, each with different options for making it open access. Learn more about the different article versions and open access pathways below.
Understanding article versions and open access
Preprints
A preprint is the version of the article before peer review. Authors can usually share this freely on preprint servers or institutional repositories. Preprints are a key element of open research practice, and allow researchers to share findings quickly, get community feedback, and make their work openly available while it’s still under review for a journal. Posting a preprint also establishes a public record of the research. Most journals accept work previously posted as a preprint, but it is worth carefully checking the policies of any journals you are targeting for submission in case they don’t follow this norm.
Some popular preprint servers include arXiv for physics, mathematics, computer science, bioRxiv for biology, and SocArXiv for social sciences.
Accepted manuscripts
The accepted manuscript (AM) also called the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) or postprint - is the version that has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication but not yet typeset or formatted by the publisher. Most publishers allow authors to make this version open access in an institutional repository (like Deakin Research Online), sometimes after an embargo period, and with a Creative Commons licence.
Final published version
The final published version (also known as the Version of Record, or VOR) is the fully copyedited, formatted article that appears in the journal. Making this version open access usually involves publishing in an open access journal or paying an Article Processing Charge (APC) in a hybrid journal.
Tip
Since a preprint is a version of an article before peer-review, it does not meet the requirements of the current ARC and NHMRC open access policies for peer- reviewed publications resulting from funded research. The main pathways to complying with the ARC and NHMRC open access requirements are making the final published version open access by publishing in an open access journal, or making the accepted manuscript available in an institutional repository. Remember to keep or ask for a copy of your Accepted Manuscript file and share it with your co-authors.
Pathways to open access for journal articles
Repository (green) open access
Repository (Green) open access is when authors make an approved version of their article (usually the accepted manuscript) freely available in a repository, providing open access to work that was originally published under a subscription model.
This pathway is compliant with the ARC and NHMRC open access policies. Consider whether you need to open up any previous publications related to a funded project by making them available in DRO.
Check out the Uploading author accepted manuscripts to Elements page on the Managing your research outputs at Deakin guide for further information and instructions on making your research open access in DRO.
Publisher (gold) open access
Gold open access journals, also known as fully open access journals, make all their articles free for anyone to read. To cover publishing costs, they usually charge authors an APC.
This pathway is compliant with the ARC and NHMRC open access policies. Consider how you will pay the APC, especially if the journal is not included in a Read & Publish agreement.
Searching the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is one way to find fully open access journals in your field.
Hybrid open access
Hybrid journals are subscription journals that give authors the option to pay an APC to make their individual article open access. They’ve been criticised for “double dipping” because readers or libraries still pay for subscriptions, while authors also pay to make their work freely available. The APCs for hybrid journals are often more expensive than fully open access journals.
This pathway is compliant with the ARC and NHMRC open access policies. Consider how you will pay the APC, especially if the journal is not included in a Read & Publish agreement.
Deakin Library’s Read & Publish agreements cover the open access APC in a large selection of hybrid journals (and some gold journals). Outside of these agreements and as noted in the Open Research Position Statement, Deakin does not support the payment of APCs to make a single article open in a hybrid journal.
Community-controlled (diamond) open access
If you prefer to support a fully open access journal with no fees – consider community-controlled (diamond) journals. Diamond journals focus on serving the needs of their research community rather than generating profit from the publishing business model. They are usually funded by universities, governments, societies or associations to make the research they publish freely available online.
This pathway is compliant with the ARC and NHMRC open access policies.
Search the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) to find diamond open access journals in your field – there are over 13,000 journals without fees indexed in DOAJ.
Check out Open Journals at Deakin to discover diamond open access journals hosted by Deakin.
Tip
Beyond the Read & Publish agreements - there is no central funding available at Deakin or the Library for the payment of APCs. Faculties, Schools, or Institutes may agree to fund APCs in certain situations, and you might also be able to use research funding to pay open access fees.
Use the Where Should I Publish tool or the CAUL Title List to find journals included in a Read & Publish agreement.