More on open access

Here we have gathered some background information about open access. We also have definitions of common terms related to open access and answers to frequent questions.

About open access

The basic thought of open access is that all publicly funded research should be freely accessible to everybody. Open access publishing means that authors publish their research results in a way that makes them open to read to everyone without any cost.

Inspiration from Benefits of Open Access, CC Danny Kingsley & Sarah Brown.

Benefits of publishing open access

You get more citations. An article published open access attracts more readers and citations than an equivalent article in a journal behind a paywall, according to several studies.
You get faster dissemination of your research results.
You fulfill eventual open access mandates from research funders.
Publishing fees/APC’s are in many cases prepaid, KI participate in several such agreements with publishers.

Common definitions and FAQ:s

Author's Accepted Manuscript (AAM)	The final author-created version of the manuscript, which includes any changes made after peer-review and has been accepted for publication by the journal.
Article Processing or Publishing Charge (APC)	The fee the author pays for publishing the article open access.
cOAlition S and Plan S	An international consortium of research funding and performing organisations and an initiative for open access publishing.
Corresponding author	The author who takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the entire publication process.
Creative Commons license	An open license stating what others are allowed to do with a published article.
Diamond open access	Journals (or platforms) where there is no publishing charge and where all content is freely available to read. Sometimes also called Platinum open access.
Embargo period	The time period that an article is locked behind a paywall and only can be read by subscribers.
Green open access	The self-archiving of articles; the publishing of a version of the article in an open archive (often only allowed after an embargo period).
Gold open access	Publishing in a fully open and freely available journal where everything is free to read for everyone.
Hybrid journal	A journal that is a subscription journal (behind paywall) but where some articles are published open access (financed through APC:s). Also called hybrid publishing.
Open access journal	A journal where all articles are freely available for all to read, usually financed through APC's. Also called gold journals or gold publishing.
Pre-print archive	An online archive containing a version of scientific articles that has not been peer reviewed or accepted for publishing in a scientific journal. One example is arXiv.org.

How can I find out if a specific journal is part of an open access agreement with prepaid APC's? You can search for journals in the Open Access/APC Checker Tool. If you find the journal you also find more information about the agreement for that particular journal.

I can't find the journal that I want to submit my manuscript to, what then? You could always double check with the library, we strive to keep the APC Checker Tool fully updated, but there are frequent changes to the titles included. If the journal is not included in any of the agreements you can choose to publish your article behind paywall or pay the APC yourself if the journal offers open access publishing or you can self-archive the article.

What do I need to do to take part in the agreements? You can see what requirements there are for each agreement.

How do I know which license to choose? In the open access policy at KI the CC BY-license is recommended. You can see which licensing options each publisher offers on the agreement pages. You can also read about what the different licenses mean. You can usually choose which license you want to use.

I don't understand what I need to do to avoid paying the APC myself? Each publisher has their own workflow for publications and each publisher often have very useful author guides that will help you through the process. You can also contact the publisher if you have questions or contact us at the library and we will help you.

Why do I need to use my KI email address when submitting my manuscript to the publisher? It facilitates for the publisher to identify you as affiliated to KI. This means you get in the right track from the beginning, making the whole process easier.

I no longer have a KI email address, my affiliation is no longer valid, what do I do then? If the research resulting in an article has been conducted at KI it does not matter that you are no longer affiliated. Just state that the research belongs to KI and you will end up in the right track eventually, if you encounter any problems contact the library.

I have received an invoice for "page charges"/"colour charges" or something similar, should I have to pay that? It is not uncommon that publishers take extra charges for colour prints and the like. These charges are typically not included in the agreements and will have to be paid by the author.

Is it easier to get an article published in an open access journal than in a subscription journal? The short answer is no, please read about the benefits of publishing open access earlier on this web page.