What is the difference between gold and green open access?

Gold open access means the published version is immediately freely available, typically requiring an APC. Green open access means you deposit a version (usually the accepted manuscript) in a repository, often after an embargo period, without paying an APC.

Will posting a preprint affect my journal submission?

Most major journals (Nature, Science, PLOS, Lancet, NEJM) explicitly allow prior preprint posting. Check the specific journal's preprint policy before posting.

What license do open access articles use?

Most open access funders require a CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) license, which allows any use including commercial adaptation, with attribution. Some journals also offer CC BY-NC (non-commercial) or CC BY-ND (no derivatives) options.

Open Access Publishing: A Guide for Researchers

Open access is reshaping academic publishing. Here is what every researcher needs to know about the different routes, costs, and funder requirements.

Open access publishing makes your research freely available to anyone without a paywall. Driven by funder mandates and growing institutional agreements, open access is now the default at many major journals and is required by funders including the NIH, Wellcome Trust, and the European Research Council. Understanding your options and obligations is increasingly essential for successful publication.

The three main routes to open access

Open access is not a single route. The main options are:

Gold open access: published in a fully open access journal; article processing charge (APC) typically paid by author or funder at time of acceptance
Green open access: published in a subscription journal but a version (preprint or accepted manuscript) is deposited in an open repository after embargo period
Hybrid open access: published in a subscription journal with an optional open access upgrade for an additional APC
Diamond open access: fully open access with no APC charged to authors, funded by institutions or societies

Article processing charges (APCs)

APCs are the fees charged by fully open access and hybrid journals to make articles freely available. APCs range widely: from $500 at smaller open access journals to $5,000+ at Nature family journals. Many research funders cover APCs directly. Institutional transformative agreements (read and publish deals) between universities and publishers may cover APCs for affiliated researchers.

Funder mandates you need to know

Major research funders now mandate open access:

NIH (USA): effective 2025, all NIH-funded research must be immediately open access in PubMed Central
Wellcome Trust: immediate open access required; covers APCs
European Research Council: immediate open access required for all ERC-funded publications
UKRI: immediate open access required; transformative agreements preferred
Gates Foundation: immediate open access with CC BY license required

Preprints: making your work immediately open

Posting a preprint (an unreviewed manuscript) on a preprint server makes your work immediately accessible before peer review. Major preprint servers include arXiv (physics, math, CS, economics), bioRxiv and medRxiv (biology, medicine), SSRN (social sciences, economics, law), and ChemRxiv (chemistry). Most journals accept submissions of papers already posted as preprints.

Frequently asked questions

Not always. Green open access (depositing your accepted manuscript in a repository) is free. Diamond open access journals charge no APCs. Many funders and institutions cover APCs for gold open access. Check with your institution's library for available agreements.