Video: Making your work open access: Psst it doesn't have to cost money (presentation given October 2022).
Three ways to make your publications open access
You can generally make a journal article open access in the following ways:
1. Deposit your article in an open access repository
You can deposit a version of your article in an institutional repository, such as eScholarship@McGill, or in a disciplinary repository.
For journal articles, the version you can deposit depends on the publisher's copyright and self-archiving policy. In many cases, this will be the accepted manuscript: the final version of your article after peer review, before the publisher's formatting and layout.
The McGill Libraries can check publisher policies for you. You can send us your publication or a list of publications, and we can determine which version can be deposited and whether an embargo applies.
eScholarship can accommodate publisher embargoes, so you can submit your article as soon as it is accepted for publication. The Libraries will apply any required embargo before making the article openly available.
2. Publish in an open access journal
You can publish your article in a journal that makes its articles freely available online.
Discover OA journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Browse journals by discipline, publisher, or subject area, or filter results to identify journals that do not charge publication fees.
Some open access journals charge article processing charges (APCs) to authors. Before submitting:
- Review available library publishing discounts
- Check whether your grant or department provides APC funding
- Explore journals that do not charge APCs
3. Publish open access in a subscription journal
Some subscription journals allow authors to pay a fee to make an individual article open access on the publisher's website. This is often called hybrid open access.
Frequently asked questions
Do McGill Libraries have a fund to cover article processing charges (APCs)?
No we do not. However, there are several publisher discounts available via McGill Libraries subscriptions. Additionally, McGill faculty may use the professional development fund to cover these costs. If you received a grant, typically APCs are an eligible grant expense.
How do I satisfy the open access conditions of my granting agency?
What is an institutional repository?
An institutional repository is an online database showcasing and preserving the publications and theses of students and faculty at a particular institution. The benefits of institutional repositories are two-fold: they preserve one's work long-term and they make one's work openly accessible. McGill University's institutional repository is eScholarship.
What is a subject repository?
A subject repository (also called a disciplinary repository) is an online repository that collects and provides access to scholarly works in a particular discipline or subject area. Unlike an institutional repository, a subject repository is generally open to researchers from any institution.
Subject repositories provide a way for researchers to make their work openly available and accessible to a wider audience. Depending on the repository, researchers may be able to deposit articles, accepted manuscripts, preprints, datasets, and other scholarly materials.
Where can I find a list of subject repositories?
| Discipline | Repositories |
|---|---|
| Agriculture | AgEcon, agriRxiv |
| Biology | bioRxiv, arXiv (quantitative biology) |
| Computer science | arXiv |
| Education | ERIC |
| Engineering | engrXiv |
| Health & Medicine | PubMed Central, medRxiv |
| Mathematics & Statistics | arXiv |
| Physics | arXiv |
| Social sciences | SocArXiv |
The Open Access Directory also maintains a list of disciplinary repositories.
What do the different types or colours of open access mean?
There are several models for making scholarly publications openly available. The terms below describe how publications are made available and, in some cases, how the costs of publishing are covered.
Diamond Open Access: Diamond open access refers to scholarly publishing that is free for both authors and readers. Diamond journals and publishing platforms do not charge article processing charges (APCs) or subscription fees. They are often community-driven and academically led or owned, and often support a diverse range of smaller-scale, multilingual, and multicultural scholarly communities. This diversity is sometimes described as bibliodiversity. The Action Plan for Diamond Open Access provides more information.
Gold Open Access: Gold open access means that articles are made immediately and freely available on the publisher's website. Gold open access journals use a variety of publishing and funding models. Some charge authors an article processing charge (APC), while others do not. You can find peer-reviewed open access journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
Green Open Access: Green open access, also known as self-archiving, means publishing an article in a journal and depositing a version of the article in an open access repository. Depending on the publisher's policy, the deposited version may be the accepted manuscript or another version of the article, and it may be subject to an embargo before it can be made publicly available. You can find open access repositories in OpenDOAR. To check a publisher's self-archiving policy, consult the JISC Open Policy Finder (formerly known as SHERPA/RoMEO).
Hybrid Open Access: Hybrid Open Access is offered by subscription journals that make individual articles openly available when an author or funder pays an article processing charge (APC). The journal continues to operate primarily through subscriptions, so openly accessible articles and subscription-only articles are published alongside one another.
Bronze Open Access: Bronze Open Access refers to articles that are freely available to read on the publisher's website but are not published under an explicit open licence. Because there is no open licence, readers may not have permission to reuse, adapt, or redistribute the article beyond what is permitted under copyright law.
Platinum Open Access: Platinum Open Access is another term sometimes used for publishing that is free for both authors and readers. The costs of publishing are covered through other sources, such as institutional support, grants, subsidies, donations, or volunteer work. Diamond Open Access is the more commonly used term for this model.
What are the different versions of scholarly articles?
A scholarly article may exist in several versions during the publishing process. The version you can share or deposit in a repository may depend on the journal's policies.
Published version
Also known as: Version of Record (VoR), Publisher PDF
This is the final version of an article as published by the journal. It includes the publisher's formatting, layout, pagination, and other enhancements.
Accepted version
Also known as: Accepted Manuscript (AAM), Author's Accepted Manuscript, final manuscript, postprint
This is the final version of the article after peer review and revisions have been completed and the manuscript has been accepted for publication. It does not include the publisher's formatting, pagination, or other production elements.
The accepted version generally contains the author's final scholarly content, but it may differ from the Published Version in its appearance and, in some cases, in minor editorial changes made during production.
The accepted version is often the version that authors can deposit in an institutional repository. Check the journal's policy to determine which version you can share.
Submitted version
Also known as: Submitted Manuscript, preprint
This is the version of the manuscript submitted to a journal before peer review. It may subsequently be revised in response to peer-review comments.
A preprint is a version of a scholarly article made publicly available before peer review. A preprint may be posted before, during, or independently of the journal submission process.
How can I tell if a journal is predatory?
Some indicators of lower quality journals are:
- Lying about impact factors, indexing databases (e.g. the journal states it is indexed in a paritcular database but is not)
- Using publisher names or journal titles that can easily be confused with a legitimate body or press
- Little use of quality control practices (e.g. articles are accepted quickly with little or no peer review or editorial revision)
If you’re unsure about a journal don’t hesitate to contact your liaison librarian and see our finding legitimate OA publishers page.
What about research data?
Information on McGill's support for research data management, sharing, and archiving is on the Research Data Services pages.
Additional resources
- McGill's Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital (The Neuro) provides more information on open science and open publishing in science and medicine
- The Libraries' guide to author rights in scholarly publishing