Open Access Publishing

What is Open Access?

Open Access (OA) means making research publications freely available, so anyone can
benefit from reading and using research.
Open Access can be more than making research available to read, but also allowing others
to re-use that research. For example, allowing to use a mathematical model for another
research or for commercial purposes. Research data and books are also increasingly made
available openly.

Open Access is part of a wider ‘open’ movement to encourage free exchange of knowledge
and resources in order to widen access and encourage creativity.
Open Access refers to the free availability of scientific literature/reporting/research/results
on the public internet, permitting users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or
link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software,
or use them for any lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than
those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.
Source: https://www.enago.com/academy/an-introduction-to-open-access-publishing/
Why do Open Access work only on a digital platform?

• After the creation of the first digital copy of a work, the cost of creating additional copies and
distributing them on the Internet is marginal. This contrasts with paper-based publishing,
which not only entails meaningful paper-copy production costs, but also physical storage and
distribution costs (Suber, 2013).

What is Open Access?

• Tenopir (2004) stated that Open Access may include many publication and distribution schemes.
E-journals that are published, distributed electronically, and subsidized by Universities,
government agencies, and volunteer organizations are the most common. In addition, collections
of separate articles or research reports could fit the definition, including e-print servers such as
‘arXiv.org’, institutional repositories, and author web pages.

• The Budapest (Budapest Open Access Initiative, 2002) (BOAI) definition of Open Access
explains that access is widely granted while recognizing the authors’ rights.
To achieve Open Access to scholarly journal literature, BOAI (2002)
recommended two complementary strategies:

1. Self Archiving (Green Access)

2. Open Access Journals (Gold Access)

Self Archiving (Green OA)
• The green open access model allows authors to comply with open access mandates from
funders and/or institutions by depositing a final accepted manuscript (AM) into a
repository, often after an embargo period set by the journal. Journals with this policy
generally do not allow a final published version of record (VoR) to be deposited.
• When authors make their articles freely available in digital form on the Internet, they are
said to be ‘self-archiving’ them. These articles can be either ‘preprints’ or ‘post prints’.
• Preprints are draft versions of articles that have not undergone peer review or editorial
review and modification. Most preprints are intended for submission to journals, but some
are not.
• Post-prints are the final published versions of articles (BOAI, FAQ).
Self Archiving (Green OA)
Self Archiving (Green OA)
• There are different forms of Open Access archives, including institutional repositories and
subject or disciplinary repositories (Morrison, 2006).

• Self-archiving has some strategies in itself, as identified by Bailey (2007) who stated that
‘the most common ways that e-prints are made available on the Internet are:

1. Authors’ personal Websites.

2. Disciplinary archives.

3. Institutional-unit archives.

4. Research connectivity portals. E.g. https://www.researchgate.net/

Open Access Journals (Gold OA)
• The gold open access model provides full open access to VoR for an Article Processing Charge (APC) paid
for by the author, funder, or institution.
• The final published VoR is immediately open on the publisher’s site, and the publisher may also assist the
author in depositing the VoR in a repository.
• Open Access journals journals are those that are freely available to scholars online for downloads and use.
• Some are subsidized, and some require payment on behalf of the author.
• Scholars need the means to launch a new generation of journals committed to Open Access, and to help
existing journals that elect to make the transition to Open Access because journal articles should be
disseminated as widely as possible, these new journals will no longer invoke copyright to restrict access to
and use of the material they publish.
• Instead, they will use copyright and other tools to ensure permanent Open Access to all the articles they
publish because price is a barrier to access, these new journals will not charge subscription or access fees, and
will turn to other methods for covering their expenses.
Open Access Journals (Others)
Platinum
• Similar to gold open access, the platinum model requires an APC. However, an APC for platinum open access
is often negotiated and processed between the publisher and author’s funder and affiliated institution, without
significant author effort or involvement.

Diamond
• The diamond open access model is also similar to the gold model, but the APC is subsidized by professional
societies through their own funding sources or mechanisms. For example, ACS Central Science, RSC
Chemical Science, or the Chinese Chemical Society’s CCS Chemistry offer such programs.

Bronze
• The bronze open access model is a less utilized model whereby a publisher makes content free to read without
an explicit open license. Without an open license, the bronze model can confuse readers about how the
content can be reused.
Source: What Are Your Open Access Options?
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsguide.10503
Open Access has the following characteristics (Jain, 2012):

1. Free availability of scholarly publication.

2. It is free of copyright and licensing restrictions.

3. Materials are available online or on the Internet.

4. Material is full text.

5. Material can be accessed by anybody from anywhere without any discrimination.

6. Material can be freely used by anyone.

7. Open Access contents can be in any format from texts and data to software, audio, video, and multi-
media, scholarly articles and their preprints.
Benefits of Open Access (Jain, 2012):

1. Beneficiaries: Teaching staff and students, authors, readers, society, journals and publishers, funding
agencies, governments, citizens, libraries, universities and nations.

2. Accelerates research, enriches education, and shares learning across rich and poor nations (Bhat, 2010).

3. Wider availability of peer-reviewed publications and scientific data in digital formats will create
innovative economic markets for services related to curation, preservation, analysis, and visualization.

4. Policies that mobilize these publications and data for re-use through preservation and broader public
access also maximize the impact and accountability of the Federal research investment. These policies will
accelerate scientific breakthroughs and innovation, promote entrepreneurship, and enhance economic
growth and job creation.
Source: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/an-introduction-to-open-access
Open Access Tools

• Access tools are pointers to information obtained in databases and repositories.

• Lib 111 Glossary on Information Technology, Internet and Library Terms’ defines access tools as
bibliography, catalog, database, or other information source, which leads us to information on our
topic.

• An access tool helps a researcher, student or librarian gain access to relevant documents located on the
web.

• Some of the Open Access tools are: DOAJ, DOAR, ROAR, SHERPA-RoMEO, and SPARC.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• The Directory of Open Access Journals (is a website that lists Open Access journals and is maintained by
Infrastructure Services for Open Access (IS4OA).

• The project defines Open Access journals as scientific and scholarly journals that meet high quality
standards by exercising peer review or editorial quality control and ‘use a funding model that does not
charge readers or their institutions for access.’

• DOAJ is the most recognized and most authoritative list of scholarly, peer-reviewed, fully Open Access
journals. More than 10 percent of the world’s peer-reviewed journals are now included in DOAJ, making
DOAJ among the world’s largest collections of peer-reviewed scholarly journals.

• There are more peer-reviewed journals in DOAJ than Science Direct; more non-embargoed, peer-
reviewed journals in DOAJ than in EBSCO’s Academic Search Premiere or Gale’s OneFile.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

• Full Open Access means no journals are embargoed (banned), and articles are available
for use, a significant strength of DOAJ.

• The DOAJ vetting process involves querying journal editors to ensure that peer-review
or equivalent quality controls are in place and that journals meet the criterion of true
Open Access as per the Budapest Open Access Initiative definition.

• To be included in DOAJ, a journal must have an ISSN.

• Journals included in DOAJ go through a periodic review process to ensure that the
journal continues to meet the criteria for inclusion (Morrison, 2007).
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

• The aim of the DOAJ is to increase the

visibility and ease of use of Open Access
scientific and scholarly journals, thereby
promoting their increased usage and impact.

• The DOAJ aims to be comprehensive and

cover all Open Access scientific and scholarly
journals that use a quality control system to
guarantee the content.

• In short, the DOAJ aims to be the one stop

shop for users of Open Access journals.

Figure 1. DOAJ Home page

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Coverage
1. Subject: All scientific and scholarly subjects are covered.
2. Types of resource: Scientific and scholarly periodicals that publish research or review papers in full text.
3. Acceptable sources: Academic, government, commercial, non-profit private sources are all acceptable.
4. Level: The target group for included journals should primarily be researchers.
5. Content: A substantive part of the journal should consist of research papers. All content should be available in
full text.
6. All languages

Access
1. All content freely available.
2. Registration: Free user registration online is acceptable.
3. Open Access without delay (e.g., no embargo period).
SHERPA-RoMEO

• Authors at times find it difficult to do self-archiving due to some apprehensions about publishers’ policies.
This is why SHERPA RoMEO is existing - to offer list of publisher permissions policies with respect to
self-archiving.

Brief History
• The original SHERPA partnership was formed for the SHERPA project (2002-2006) and drew from research-
led universities with an active interest in establishing an example of a then-new concept - an Open Access
institutional repository. (Website: http:// www.sherpa.ac.uk/).

• SHERPA is investigating issues in the future of scholarly communication.

• It is developing Open Access institutional repositories in universities to facilitate the rapid and efficient
worldwide dissemination of research.
SHERPA RoMEO Services Overview

SHERPA services and the SHERPA Partnership are both based at the Centre for Research Communications at
the University of Nottingham. SHERPA services include:

1. RoMEO - Publisher’s copyright & archiving policies.

2. JULIET - Research funder’s archiving mandates and guidelines.

3. OpenDOAR worldwide Directory of Open Access Repositories.

4. SHERPA Search - Simple full-text search of UK repositories.

RoMEO-(Publishers’ Copyright and Archiving Policies)

• RoMEO is a searchable database of publisher’s policies regarding the self-archiving of journal articles
on the web and in Open Access repositories.

Reason for using RoMEO: If an academic author wants to put their research articles online, they are faced
with an increasingly complex situation. Evidence shows that citations to articles made openly accessible in
this way are taken up and cited more often than research that is simply published in journals. Also some
funding agencies require Open Access archiving for their research, to increase the use of the information
generated. However, some publishers prohibit authors from using their own articles in this way. Others
allow it, but only under certain conditions, while others are quite happy for authors to show their work in
this way. Authors can be left confused.
Thus, RoMEO helps to clarify the situation. RoMEO contains publishers’ general policies on self-archiving
of journal articles and certain conference series. Each entry provides a summary of the publisher’s policy,
including what version of an article can be deposited, where it can be deposited, and any conditions that are
attached to that deposit.
SHERPA/RoMEO (Overview)

• https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/
• Database of publisher’s copyright policies:
✓ Self-archiving by authors: pre-prints and post-prints.
✓ Paid Open Access options.
✓ Compliance with research funders’ mandates.
• Purpose:
✓ To help determine archiving rights.
• Sources:
✓ Publishers’ information and correspondence.
✓ Users’ suggestions.
SHERPA/RoMEO Services
1. Search Options and Publishers’ Policy: Copyright policies and self-archiving can be looked up. The
title, ISSN, publisher, etc of a particular journal can be used as a key term to search for the archiving
policy. When reading a SHERPA RoMEO record or the publisher’s policy, pay particular attention to
the version of the paper you may self-archive and any embargo periods you are expected to adhere to.
On this page, the keys to the archiving policy can be viewed too.

Figure 2. SHERPA RoMEO Search Interface. Figure 3. SHERPA publisher policies.

SHERPA/RoMEO Services
2. Browse Romeo Journals: All the journals in RoMEO can be browsed here.

Figure 4. List of publishers in SHERPA-RoMEO

SHERPA/RoMEO Services
3. Suggest to RoMEO: Here, one is encouraged to suggest publishers to be included in RoMEO.

Figure 5. Suggesting a new publisher interface in SHERPA-RoMEO

SHERPA/RoMEO Services

4. Application programmers’ changes can be considered for in SHERPA-RoMEO

Figure 6. Application Programmers’ Interface

SHERPA/RoMEO Services

RoMEO Colours
SHERPA/RoMEO Services

More on colours and restrictions

SHERPA/RoMEO Services

http://www..Sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/
SHERPA/RoMEO Services

SHERPA/RoMEO Search Box

SHERPA/RoMEO Services
SHERPA/RoMEO Services

1. RoMEO Colour
2. Versions available for deposit to IR
3. Conditions for deposit to IR
4. Link to Publisher’s Self-Archiving Policy
5. Link to Publisher’s Website
SHERPA/RoMEO Services
SHERPA/RoMEO Services

Publisher Information Page in SHERPA/RoMEO

SHERPA/RoMEO Services
1. Go to http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/ Search for “Nature”
Answer the following with valid logic:

• Can the publisher’s pdf be archived?

• Can the author’s post-print be archived?
• What is the restriction for post-prints?
SHERPA/RoMEO Services

Can the publisher’s pdf be archived ?

SHERPA/RoMEO Services

Can the publisher’s pdf be archived ?

NO!
SHERPA/RoMEO Services

Can the author’s post-print be archived?

SHERPA/RoMEO Services

Can the author’s post-print be archived ?

Yes, subject to restrictions.
SHERPA/RoMEO Services

What is the restriction for post-prints?

SHERPA/RoMEO Services

What is the restriction for post-prints ?

6 months embargo
Multimedia File. 1
Conclusive Statement

In as much as self-archiving is encouraged, permission from publishers must be obtained.

The copyright holder, normally the publisher, must give permission to self-archive.
Many publishers now include these permissions in their copyright transfer agreements
(CTAs), licenses to publish (LTP) and on their website.
Assignment
1. Go to http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/ Search for “Any journal related to your
research domain”.
Answer the following with valid logic:

• Can the publisher’s pdf be archived?

• Can the author’s post-print be archived?
• What is the restriction for post-prints?

2. Determine publisher copyright and self-archiving policies of “Advances in Civil

Engineering”.
 Sources
• Bailey, C. (2007). Open Access and Libraries. Collection Management 32, (3/4), 351-383.
• Bailey, C. W. (2007). What is Open Access? Retrieved from http://www.digitalscholarship. com/cwb/WhatIsOA.pdf
• Bhat, M. H. (2010). Open Access repositories: a review. Library Philosophy and Practice. Retrieved from
http://unllib.unl.edu/LPP/hanief2.htm
• Björk, B.-C. (2004). Open Access to scientific publications - an analysis of the barriers to change? Information Research, 9(2), paper
170. Retrieved from http:// InformationR.net/ir/9-2 /paper170.html
• Bozimo, D. O (2008). Strategic Approach to Open Access in Nigeria. International Workshops on the Open Access repositories: New
models for Scholarly communication.
• CASLIN (2009). Institutional Online Repositories and Open Access .16th International Seminar Tepla Monastery, Czech Republic, 7-11
June 2009.
• Gedye, R. (2004). Open Access is only part of the story. Serials Review, 30 (4), 271-274. Retrieved from the ScienceDirect Journals
database.
• Giarlo, M. J. (2005). The impact of Open Access on academic libraries. Retrieved from http://lackoftalent.org/michael/papers/532.pdf