Skip to Main Content

Scholarly Publishing Guide

This guide will help you evaluate and select journals, avoid predatory publishers, negotiate publishing contracts, understand mandates for sharing your publication, and reuse your own work appropriately.

Librarian

Profile Photo
Erin Owens
she/her/hers
Contact:
936-294-4567
eowens@shsu.edu
NGL 223D
ORCID: 0000-0001-9520-9314

I'm Creative Commons Certified! I can advise on CC licenses to reuse, remix, and publish open resources.
Creative Commons Certification logo

What is Open Access (OA)?

"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:

OA Mandates: Am I Required to Share My Work?

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.

Access Models on a Spectrum from Closed to Open

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.

Benefits of Open Access Research

 

Impact of Open Access infographic

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

Directories: Find OA Journals and Book Publishers

 

Newton Gresham Library | (936) 294-1614 | (866) NGL-INFO | Ask a Question | Share a Suggestion

Sam Houston State University | Huntsville, Texas 77341 | (936) 294-1111 | (866) BEARKAT
© Copyright Sam Houston State University | All rights reserved. | A Member of The Texas State University System