Open Access @OSU Libraries: Open Access

Diamond OA

Publishing in a fully OA journal funded by libraries, academic institutions, societies, volunteers and/or funders.

• No cost to authors or readers.
• Article is immediately available open access (immediate OA).
• Straightforward workflow for authors.
• Authors typically retain copyright and control of their work.

• Less common, especially in some disciplines.
• Possible lower perceived prestige, often do to the fact that Diamond journals are not as well established
• Often relies on disparate funding sources and staffing

• Libraries provide infrastructure (e.g., Open journal systems [OJS] hosting) and financial support (e.g., subscribing to 'Subscribe to Open' journals) to encourage innovative OA models and greater diversity of options for authors.
• Diamond OA aims to address the imbalance of power in scholarly publishing, which is largely held by five publishers, rather than just the symptoms of that monopoly (e.g., expensive article processing charges - APCs).

Green OA

Archiving published manuscripts in an OA repository such as Open Research Oklahoma

• No cost to authors, except if publishing in a Gold OA journal.
• No cost to read a deposited version of the article.
• Allows authors to choose a journal they wish, including closed-access journals, usually while adhering to funder OA policies

• Many journals require an embargo period, usually 12 months, before a version of the manuscript can be made publicly available in a repository.
• Additional work for authors to deposit a version of the article in a repository.
• There are questions about the findability of the deposited version of the article.

• Rights retention policies – authors retain some non-exclusionary rights, such as the right to immediately deposit a copy of their article in a repository (no embargo).
• Universities (e.g., Harvard) and funding agencies (e.g., NIH, Welcome Trust) have shown that rights retention policies are effective in permitting immediate OA and facilitating workflows for their authors (e.g., automated or mediated deposit in institutional repositories).
• For more information, see "Rights Retention and Open Access" by Peter Suber.
• Articles deposited in Open Research Oklahoma are discoverable through search engines (e.g., Google Scholar), some databases (e.g., Web of Science, Scopus) and using browser extensions (e.g., Unpaywall).

Transformative Agreements*

Libraries or library consortia contract with publishers for affiliated authors to publish OA at a discount in the publisher's collection of gold or hybrid journals.

• No cost to readers.
• Reduced cost for authors.
• Immediate OA.

• TAs are proving financially unsustainable for the library community.
• Workflows for authors can be complicated or difficult to understand.
• Publishers can exclude the most prestigious journals from these deals.

Gold OA*

Publishing in a fully OA journal after paying APCs.

• Immediate OA.
• Author workflows are straightforward.

• APCs will continue to increase.
• Authors often can't afford the APCs for all the articles they publish.

Hybrid OA*

Publishing OA in an otherwise closed-access journal after paying an APC.

• Immediate OA.

• APCs are often unreasonably high and will continue to increase.
• Authors often can't afford the APCs for all the articles they publish.
• Publishers often 'double-dip'. Libraries pay for the journal subscription, and authors at their institution pay again in the form of an APC. This is unnecessarily costly for the institution.

Subscribe to Open (S2O)

Publishers convert journals from subscription to OA based on sufficient level of participation by past subscribers (see Subscribe to Open Community)

• Leverages existing library relationships and payments.
• No additional cost to authors.
• Potential for immediate OA if revenue targets are met.
• Encourages libraries to maintain subscriptions.
• Provides a pathway for traditional subscription journals to transition to OA.

• Uncertainty for authors about OA status until revenue targets are met.
• Potential for content to remain subscription-only if targets are not met.
• Requires consistent support from subscribing institutions to maintain OA status year over year.

• Clear communication from publishers about revenue targets and OA status.
• Incentives for early subscription to encourage meeting revenue targets.
• Collaborative efforts between libraries and publishers to promote the model and ensure its sustainability.
• Exploring ways to guarantee OA status even if revenue targets are not fully met.