Here are ten questions to think about when you are deciding to publish on an open access basis.
- What kind of open access do you and your co-authors want for your article?
Generally speaking there are two main routes to making your article available on an open access basis.
- Gold – Where an article publication fee is paid in return for full immediate open access of the version of record of an article on the journal homepage.
- Green – Where you place the accepted manuscript into a repository after an embargo period.
- Does your funder/institution have an open policy whose requirements you need to consider?
It is critical to establish if your funder or institution has a preference/mandate for open access publishing and how this is compatible with your publishing preferences. - Are your co-authors bound by any open access requirements?
Different institutions have variable open access requirements. The differences usually lie around what copyright licences authors are allowed to publish under. This may affect your publishing choices. - Does your preferred journal provide the open access options you need?
Different journals and different publishers have variable open access policies. You will need to check that your preferred journal is compatible with any mandates you are required to comply with. All IOP’s journals have information about their open access options accessible from the journal homepages. - If you choose green open access, what is the publisher’s embargo period and which repository will you choose?
There may be guidance on this in your institutions/funders open access policy. You or your co-authors may have a preference regarding subject repository vs institutional repository. You can check the SHERPA RoMEO’s directory for a journal/publishers copyright policies & self-archiving policies but these do change so it is worthwhile checking with the journal itself. For reference IOP has a 12 month embargo period for green open access in the majority of cases. - If you choose gold open access what is the article publication charge you need to pay and where will you get the funds?
Funding might be available through your research grant, via your department or via your library. IOP also offers discounts for referees for gold open access publishing. - What is the copyright/licence policy of the publisher i.e. how can the published work be reused?
The most commonly used licence for gold open access publishing is CC BY which has liberal reuse rights attached to it. However articles made available by green open access may not have the same reuse rights. If CC BY is not appropriate for your paper then please contact us at copyright@iop.org to discuss options. - Does your preferred journal meet your quality standards?
The same assessments of a journals quality that you would normally apply should be used to scrutinise open access journals in terms of status, scope, suitability, publication speed, Impact Factor, article level metrics, archiving policy, availability in indexing etc. Have you checked the background of the journal? For example is the journal you have selected registered with the Directory of Open Access Journals and the Publisher a member of Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) ). How long has the journal been established? - Where can I go to learn more about open access and IOP Publishing?
IOP’s open access policy is under constant review. You can keep up to date at iopscience.org/openaccess. You can also follow up with your subject librarian to learn what resources and support for open access exist at your institution. - I’ve still got questions, who can I ask?
If you wish to publish with IOP Publishing, we are always happy to offer help and guidance on any of the issues raised in this list. Please email us at custserv@iop.org.