Research Guides: Scholarly Communication Support: Planning, Conducting, Disseminating, Promoting, & Assessing Research: Open-Access Publishing

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936-294-4567
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I'm Creative Commons Certified! I can advise on CC licenses to reuse, remix, and publish open resources.

Subjects: OER: Open (or Free) Educational Materials, Scholarly Communication

Open Access (OA) Publishing

"In short, Open Access is the free and unrestricted online access to outputs of scholarly research." Open Access and Digital Scholarship Blog, Imperial College London

OA journals are available online for everyone to read for free, rather than only paid subscribers.

Many OA journals employ scholarly peer-review and rigorous editorial processes, just like commercial journals. Therefore the quality of the research product is not diminished, but access to that product is more open to students and researchers around the world.

Resources to learn more:

Why Open Research? Site built primarily for researchers, to educate them about all the different ways they can be open and how sharing can be beneficial for their careers.
HowOpenIsIt? Tool - A Guide for Evaluating the Openness of Journals "Standardizes terminology to provide a means to identify the core components of OA and how they are implemented across the spectrum between 'Open Access' and 'Closed Access.'" (SPARC in conjunction with PLOS and OASPA)
Open-Access [Monograph] Publishing: What Authors Should Know by Kritika Agarwal, AHA Today, 1 May 2017. This Q&A-style blog post illustrates what the process of publishing an open-access monograph looks like from an author’s perspective.
OAPEN's OA Books Toolkit
Myths About Open Access The University of Minnesota Libraries responds to some of the most common myths and concerns about the open-access publishing model.
Resources from The Open Scholarship Initiative (OSI) A glossary of core terms, an index of key stakeholders and organizations, suggested readings, issue briefs, and more.

spectrum of access from traditional subscription journals to platinum open access journals with no author fees

APC = Article Processing Charge

Usage of some terms like "Gold" may vary, so always read a journal's policies carefully, or consult the Directory of Open Access Journals for clear information about a journal's OA publishing and author fees.

This terminology was chosen by those advocating for open access to research, so terms such as Gold and Platinum suggest a bias in favor of open. This does not make traditional journals "bad" or make all open journals "better." They are simply different ends of an access spectrum, and an individual researcher's priorities and values will determine the appropriate choice for each individual publication.

Why Open Access Matters | PLOS
Accelerated discovery. Public enrichment. Improved education.
Why Publish an Open Access Book?
From OAPEN's OA Books Toolkit
Benefits of open access book publishing for early career researchers
From OAPEN's OA Books Toolkit

(click on the image to view it full-size in a new window; graphic from bepress):

Your institution and/or the funding agency may require open access publishing (especially government funders). Read the terms of your funding and plan in advance. The tools below may help you to identify mandates from your institution and/or funding agency.

Sherpa Juliet Database of Funder OA Policies Database of funders' open-access policies, including policies regarding OA publishing, OA archiving, and data archiving.
ROARMAP: Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies ROARMAP is a searchable international registry of open access mandates and policies adopted by universities, research institutions and research funders that require or request open access to peer-reviewed research.
Browse Article & Data Sharing Requirements by Federal Agency From the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)
CENDI list of federal agency public access plans From CENDI (Commerce, Energy, NASA, Defense Information Managers Group)
Plan S - OA mandate by European funding agencies European policy may impact U.S. researchers collaborating internationally with other scholars or research institutions. “After 1 January 2020 scientific publications on the results from research funded by public grants provided by national and European research councils and funding bodies, must be published in compliant Open Access Journals or on compliant Open Access Platforms.”

Journals

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) "DOAJ is an online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals."
Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) "The international community of Open Access publishers - Our mission is to represent the interests of Open Access (OA) journal and book publishers globally in all scientific, technical and scholarly disciplines. This mission will be carried out through exchanging information, setting standards, advancing models, advocacy, education, and the promotion of innovation."
Open Library of Humanities A scholar-led, not-for-profit publishing enterprise which publishes 33 journals in the humanities, across disciplines including philosophy, literature, linguistics, theology, cultural theory, media studies, architecture, and sociology.
Open Access Journals from MIT Press
Open Access Journals @ SHSU

Books

How to Find Open Access Book Publishers From OAPEN's OA Books Toolkit
Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) The primary aim of DOAB is to increase discoverability of Open Access books. The directory is open to all publishers who publish academic, peer reviewed books in Open Access.
Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) "The international community of Open Access publishers - Our mission is to represent the interests of Open Access (OA) journal and book publishers globally in all scientific, technical and scholarly disciplines. This mission will be carried out through exchanging information, setting standards, advancing models, advocacy, education, and the promotion of innovation."
Open Book Environment (OBE) Dashboard
Publishers of OA Books - from the Open Access Directory
Luminos - OA monograph publishing from the University of California Press

Basics

Some journals charge article processing charges (APCs) to publish articles in open access, in theory to replace the subscription costs that fund traditional paywalled publishing.

In some cases, a journal publishes only open-access articles with APCs. Other journals use a hybrid model, in which the author of each article can choose between paying an APC for open-access publication or letting the article be published behind a subscription paywall. Authors are responsible for APCs, but may pay them with grant funds or may have access to funding from their institution.

Open Access Funding Resources Suggested by IGI Global

MYTH: All APCs are Predatory

Many long-established and well-reputed journals now offer APCs as an option when publishing to give authors choices. Existence of a fee is not predatory--determine why the publisher charges a particular fee, what service or value is being provided in exchange, and whether you judge it to be an acceptable exchange. If you are unsure about whether a particular publisher fee is appropriate or predatory, do not hesitate to contact the Scholarly Communications Librarian for consultation.

A guide to potential costs associated with publishing your manuscript This page from Sage Publishing is helpful in distinguishing types of potential fees, including APCs, color charges, permission fees, and more.

MYTH: Open-Access Always Costs

Many journals now publish their content in open-access format without passing fees along to the author. These journals generally have an alternate funding model, such as financial support from a scholarly society or university. If you need or want open-access publishing but can't or won't pay APCs, search the DOAJ for zero-fee OA journals, or ask the Scholarly Communications Librarian for suggestions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) "DOAJ is an online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals."

Beware of Fine Print

Open-access publishing agreements from some publishers, such as Elsevier and Wiley, may contain "fine print" or loopholes you may easily overlook. Although the article is published with a Creative Common license that provides free online access and broad reuse rights for readers, it may also grant the publisher an exclusive right to earn a profit from the work -- blocking you from commercial uses of your own work. Learn more in the article below from the Authors Alliance.

Read your open access publishing agreements, or: how you might accidentally give Elsevier or Wiley the exclusive right to profit from your OA article

SHSU Waivers from IGI Global

As part of SHSU's subscription agreement with IGI Global, researchers at SHSU may be able to access waivers to publish open-access (OA) articles at no cost in hybrid or gold IGI journals. Request waivers through the online OA Waiver Request form.

More About OA Publishing with IGI
Browse IGI Journal Titles
Use the filters on the right to narrow by subjects and categories.

SHSU Discounts from Elsevier

SHSU authors are eligible for discounts on APCs with some Elsevier journals.

Authors publishing in Elsevier Gold OA journals receive a 10% discount
Authors publishing in Hybrid OA journals receive a 15% discount
Cell Press titles, The Lancet, and certain society titles are excluded from these discounts
There is no cap on the number of OA articles SHSU authors can publish using these discounts

Eligibility Criteria:

Submission date must be on or after 1 July 2022
Corresponding author must be affiliated with SHSU
Must be a participating journal

If you have questions about obtaining a discount for an upcoming publication, please contact the SHSU library.

Request a Consultation

Flowchart: When Should I Consider Paying APCs?

This flowchart may assist you in determining whether it is "worth" paying an APC for a particular publication, especially if the APC funding was not included in a grant budget.

Flowchart: To APC or Not (PDF)