Open Access Publishing: Deciding on the right model

Open Access is a worldwide movement that strives to provide free online access to academic content such as publications and data.

The Directory of Open Access Journals notes that there are currently over 10,000 fully OA peer-reviewed scholarly journals from 135 countries, offering 1.7 million searchable articles. This indicates that in less than a decade, almost one-third of the world’s scholarly journals are now freely accessible to anybody with an Internet connection.

As for its revenue model, OA switches the revenue source from subscribers to the authors who are willing to pay article processing fees (APFs) or article processing charges (APCs) to make their research as widely available as possible.

We take a look at the different types of open access:

1. Gold

Gold OA implies that the final published version of your article (or Version of Record) is permanently and freely available online for anybody, wherever to read. If you publish gold OA, you will usually be charged an article publication charge (APC). Authors opting for gold open access can share their research as soon as it is published. They can publish under a license with little or no limitations on how their work can be reused (with credits). Authors can retain copyright to their work after publishing while also complying with any funder mandates.

2. Green

Green open access does not provide the same regulatory precedent for content licensing as traditional open access. Consequently, (scientific) exploitation is only permissible within the constraints of copyright law. This implies that the author's contract must be carefully studied for an article to be reused in a way that satisfies all legal requirements. Furthermore, since various publishing firms apply varying embargo periods before making the articles openly available, there is no universal regulation controlling the open accessibility of publications.

3. Diamond

Journal articles in Diamond Open Access journals are similar to those in Gold Open Access publications. They both have robust peer review and editing processes in place, with the main distinction being the omission of the article processing fees. The Diamond model eliminates the need for article processing costs while preserving journal quality. Diamond OA focuses on academic aims such as knowledge generation, distribution, and consumption as free as possible. Advocates of Diamond Open Access claim it to be the only model that ensures the sustainability of OA publishing.

4. Hybrid

Subscription-based hybrid open access journals allow writers to select open access at the article level. This status usually necessitates the payment of an article-processing charge (APC) to the publisher to publish an article open access and the continuing payment of subscriptions to access all other content.

5. Bronze

A Bronze OA journal article refers to one that is freely available but does not have an open license and hence cannot be deemed fully open access. These articles are available on websites hosted by their publisher, either immediately or following an embargo, but they are not explicitly licensed for reuse.

How do you determine the right model for you?

While Gold and Green OA are the most common models, the Hybrid route is slowly gaining popularity. Furthermore, no matter what form of OA you opt for, the quality of your manuscript is important. Our Research Content Services are ideal for ensuring that your publication needs are met with the highest standards. If you want to know how Straive can help, get in touch with us today.