Open access explained
What is open access?
Open access (OA) refers to the publication of journal articles, chapters or books so that they can be accessed by anyone free of charge.
Traditionally, published research outputs could only be accessed via the libraries of subscribing institutions and those who could afford to purchase a title or subscription.
Certain forms of OA can also facilitate the re-use of research outputs to maximise impact and discovery.
By opening up research to everyone, OA gives research the widest possible reach so it can be put to use in making a difference in the world.
These are some of the most common forms of open access:
- Green open access
- Gold open access
- Diamond/Platinum open access
Funders may mandate that you make your publications available with a certain type of open access, so it is worth checking their requirements before submitting your work to a publisher.
Green open access
Publishing Green open access means that you can deposit the 'author’s accepted manuscript’ version of your work in an institutional repository. The 'author’s accepted manuscript’ is the version of your manuscript which has undergone peer review but hasn’t been copy-edited or typeset by the publisher.
There may be an embargo period depending on the type of research output (e.g. an article or a book chapter). Terms and conditions will vary depending on the publisher’s policy.
When depositing your work in a repository, you should always provide an acknowledgement of the version of the record and a link to it. The version of record is the final published version which has been copy-edited and typeset. Linking to the version of record lets people know that your piece has been fully peer-reviewed. It also allows them to cite the version of record and makes sure that you receive all of the citations for your work.
Find out more about our Green open access policies for books and journals.
Gold open access
Gold open access makes the version of record freely available to everyone, immediately upon publication. The work is published under a Creative Commons (CC) license which allows anyone to download, read, reuse or adapt the content. There may be some restrictions on who can reuse the content or how they can reuse it, depending on the policies of the publisher and the type of CC license you use.
In order to publish Gold open access you will have to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC), Chapter Processing Charge (CPC) or Book Processing Charge (BPC). This charge covers the costs of publishing your work and may provide revenue for the publisher.
Most publishers, including Bristol University Press, will allow you to retroactively convert work to gold open access after publication. You will still need to pay a processing charge, but this may be discounted depending on how old the research output is.
Publish your journal article with Gold open access.
Publish your book with Gold open access.
Diamond/Platinum open access
Diamond open access, also known as Platinum or community-funded open access, is very similar to Gold open access except that authors don’t pay any fees. Instead, the cost of publishing the work is covered by a third party, often an institution or a Society. Like Gold open access the work is published under a Creative Commons copyright licence.
Read and Publish agreements
Some publishers will offer Read and Publish agreements, otherwise known as transformative agreements. Under these deals institutions pay to gain access to a publisher’s content and allow their researchers to publish open access without paying fees. There may be restrictions included in these deals and they will vary from publisher to publisher and institution to institution.
Bristol University Press offers an uncapped Read and Publish agreement for 20 of its journals.
See our Read and Publish FAQ to learn more.
What is the difference between free access and open access?
Free content is made free at the discretion of the Publisher and may be paywalled at any time.
Open access pieces of work are permanently free for all to access and re-use under a Creative Commons copyright licence.