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Open access publishing means making your research outputs available online, free of charge to individuals who wish to access and read it.

You can publish open access either by depositing your work in a repository such as  or by paying an open access fee or article processing charge (APC) to a publisher for immediate open access on their website.

Yes. Open access articles published in journals are peer-reviewed.

is a website that helps you to choose trusted journals for your research.

If it is an open access journal check the following:

• It has an entry in the  (DOAJ).
• Publisher’s membership of the  (OASPA).
• Publisher’s membership of the  (COPE).
• Publisher’s membership of the  (STM).
• Named editor and editorial board – recognised experts in their field who include their editorial commitment on their own research profiles.
• Look at the editor’s profile on their university website, links to their online profiles (for example, on ,  or ) for evidence that they are actual editors. Further indicators are membership of organisations such as the ,  and .

Check with your journal. Many publishers have hybrid ‘gold’ open access options, making your work open access immediately on publication. This usually involves paying an open access fee or APC.

Open access publishing means making your research outputs available online, free of charge to individuals who wish to access and read it.

You can publish open access either by depositing your work in a repository such as  or by paying an open access fee or article processing charge (APC) to a publisher for immediate open access on their website.

Yes. Open access articles published in journals are peer-reviewed.

is a website that helps you to choose trusted journals for your research.

If it is an open access journal check the following:

• It has an entry in the  (DOAJ).
• Publisher’s membership of the  (OASPA).
• Publisher’s membership of the  (COPE).
• Publisher’s membership of the  (STM).
• Named editor and editorial board – recognised experts in their field who include their editorial commitment on their own research profiles.
• Look at the editor’s profile on their university website, links to their online profiles (for example, on ,  or ) for evidence that they are actual editors. Further indicators are membership of organisations such as the ,  and .

Check with your journal. Many publishers have hybrid ‘gold’ open access options, making your work open access immediately on publication. This usually involves paying an open access fee or APC.

Fully open access journals make all their published content open and freely available to any reader, usually under . The majority charge an open access fee or article processing charge (APC), but there is no traditional subscription charge to pay.

Hybrid journals are ‘traditional’ subscription-only titles for which publishers now provide ‘gold’ open access publishing options at a charge. Content in these journals will be a mix of freely available open content (if an open access fee or APC was paid for the article to be published) and subscriber-only content.

The author accepted manuscript (AAM). You can search for the journal in Jisc’s  to find out your publisher’s policy.

Contact the Library’s Open Access team

Book a one-to-one with the Open Access team

Contact your subject Librarian

Research Gate and Academia.edu are social networking sites aimed at researchers. They regularly encourage researchers to upload and share their latest research papers but just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should.

Open access options are available for a wide range of long-form outputs, including books, book chapters, edited collections, textbooks and Open Educational Resources (OERs). Requirements, funding opportunities, licensing options and publishing routes vary between publishers and funders.

For guidance on open access publishing, funder requirements, available funding and useful publishing resources, visit our Open Access Books, Chapters and OERs page.

The Library does not provide general advice on the choice of publisher. Authors seeking recommendations should consult colleagues and subject specialists within their department.

For guidance on open access publishing, funder requirements, available funding and useful publishing resources, visit our Open Access Books, Chapters and OERs page.

If you are unsure where to publish, we recommend speaking to colleagues in your field. You can also use the to find open access publishers and books by subject, language and publisher.

If your work is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), you may need to make your monograph, book chapter or edited collection open access. The requires eligible outputs published from 1 January 2024 to be made openly available within 12 months of publication. More information is available on our UKRI monographs, book chapters and edited collections page.

If your work is funded by the , you may also have open access requirements. In some cases, monographs and book chapters must be made available through and . Where an open access publishing fee has been paid, the publication must normally be available without an embargo and licensed to support reuse.

Our FAQ page explains how 51³Ô¹ÏÍø-affiliated authors can apply for funding to cover Open Access fees (APCs). It outlines who is eligible, how to submit an application, what information is needed, how long approval takes, and what other publication charges are not covered. It also provides guidance on billing details, publisher agreements, and support available for authors funded by major research funders.