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Open Access

What is open access (OA)?

Open access (OA) typically refers to full-text scholarly research that is made freely available on the internet. In a scholarly environment, OA often focuses on journal literature.

Open Access: "Literature which is freely available on the public internet, permitting any 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 other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited." (Budapest Open Access Initiative, 2001)

More OA Background Documents:

Publishing in OA Journals: FAQ

Where do I find OA journal articles?

  • While there is no complete and definitive index of OA journals, many are listed in the Directory of Open access Journals (DOAJ). This directory provides free access to full text, quality controlled, scholarly OA journals in a variety of disciplines.
  • Members of the McMaster community also have access to a library database called Ulrichsweb.com, which allows users to identify OA publications in its Advanced Search.
  • Some authors make copies of their published articles freely accessible through a subject-based or institutional repository (often in addition to having them published in a subscription-based journal).
     

Who pays for OA?

OA is free to users, but all publishing has a cost. A number of business models support OA:

Types of Open Access
Description
Example
Preprint Archive
Authors archive preprints (pre-refereeing) in an OA archive arXiv.org
Unqualified
Immediate and full OA publication of journal First Monday
Dual Mode
Both subscription-print and OA journal editions offered Journal of Postgraduate Medicine
Delayed OA
OA edition available some months after initial publication New England Journal of Medicine
Author Fee
Authors pay fee to support OA publication BioMed Central
Hybrid or Partial OA
Some issues or articles within  an issue are OA

Russell
Per Capita
OA made available to country based on per capita income Directory of Developing Nations Initiatives
Abstract
OA to journal table of contents and abstracts Science Direct
Co-op
Institutional members support OA journals German Academic Publishers

Based on: Willinsky, J. (2003). The Nine Flavours of Open Access Scholarly Publishing. Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, 49(3), 263-267.

Who pays OA Author Fees?

Approximately 18% of OA journals charge authors a fee to publish their articles (this according to a 2007 survey conducted by Bill Hooker, and supported by similar findings reported in a 2004 study by Elsevier). Typically, these fees are paid for with research grant funds, while in some cases, institutions, societies, or foundations are able to either waive or subsidize these fees using money set aside for such purposes or through institutional-membership discounts.


Is OA compatible with copyright?

Yes. Many journals and publishers allow authors to archive their previously published work online, although certain conditions may apply. For information about copyright agreements, try searching for a specific publisher or journal in SHERPA/RoMEO, an initiative that provides information about a number of copyright transfer agreements.

Most OA journals also have specific copyright agreements. In most cases, this involves Creative Commons Attribution Licenses, which typically allow free use of OA materials so long as credit is given to the original author and source.
 

Is OA compatible with peer review?

Yes. Many OA journals are peer reviewed, following the same procedures and guidelines as peer reviewed subscription-based journals. Most self-archived articles have also been peer reviewed. 
 

What are the advantages of publishing in an OA journal?

  • OA journals make research widely available to researchers, students and the general public who may not be able to access these materials otherwise since journal subscriptions are often very expensive.
  • OA can provide immediate, public access to research that has been funded by taxpayers.
  • OA potentially increases readership and thus the potential for greater research impact and citation rates.
     

What are the disadvantages of publishing in an OA journal?

  • The pay-for-access model of journal publishing generates revenue used to ensure that publishers are able to maintain long-term archiving and assured authenticity (e.g., through editing, indexing, and arranging the peer review process).
  • Some argue that most OA journals are not well-established, and as a result, hold little scholarly prestige and will therefore not help authors pursuing tenure or greater research impact.
  • Some disciplines and researchers have more financial support for OA publishing initiatives than others, which could result in conflicts of interest and less exposure for some.
     

Is OA my choice or am I mandated to make my research open access?

Some research funding agencies mandate OA deposit of research. For a summary of various funding agencies' policies, visit SHERPA/ JULIET.
 

Can I share my article in an Institutional Repository here at McMaster?

Yes! McMaster's "Institutional Repository" is digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca. Please contact scom@mcmaster.ca
 

Can I place my paper in an Institutional Repository and still publish it in the journal of my choice?

If you wish to place an article in an institutional repository, you will need to ensure that you have the copyright permissions to do so. Permissions for many publishers can be found at SHERPA /RoMEO.

 

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