What is Open Access?
Open Access means providing unrestricted access to research outputs. If an article is Open Access, it can be read by anyone in the world with an internet connection.
The potential readership of an Open Access article is far, far greater than one where the full text is restricted to subscribers. By increasing the number of readers, article citations grow significantly and opportunities for collaboration increase.
You can check your funder requirements via , a searchable database of up-to-date information concerning funders' policies and their requirements on open access, publication and data archiving.
The Library Open Access team are happy to help with any questions. It’s best to contact the team as early as possible in the publication process, especially if your paper is acknowledging UK Research and Innovation, Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK or British Heart Foundation funding.
Read the 5X社区视频 Open Access Publication policy [PDF 151KB]
Routes to Open Access
Green Open Access
The green open access publication route means that the full text of your research output is made available via the SRO repository. The publication record is created within Elements and then the record is ‘deposited’ to the SRO repository. We advise depositing the AAM (the version after peer-review but before any layout or copyediting work is completed by the publisher) with your record as this fulfils funder, REF, and 5X社区视频 policy requirements.
Gold Open Access
Gold open access is when the final version of a research output is made freely available on a publisher’s website immediately upon publication, usually under a Creative Commons licence that permits reuse. Publishers usually cover costs by charging a fee to the author or their institution, known as the Article Processing Charge (APC - see FAQs)
The library has several agreements with publishers to enable Sussex and BSMS researchers to share their research outputs openly. All our deals, and how to take advantage of them, are listed on our Institutional Open Access deals & discounts page.
Frequently Asked Questions- What is an Article Processing Charge (APC)?
An APC is a fee paid to the publisher to cover research paper publishing costs. With production costs then covered, the article can be made free at point of access. The cost of publication is moved from the reader (via subscriptions and paywalls) to the author (via the APC).
- How can I make my work available through Green Open Access?
You can make your work Green Open Access by making the full text available in Sussex Research Online (SRO) via Elements or a subject specific repository.
- Add the details of your item to Elements following our online guidance.
- Upload a version of your paper. Different publishers have different rules as to which version of your article can be uploaded, but the most common is the author's accepted version (i.e the final version of your document after all peer review changes have been made). Most publishers do not allow their own PDF to be used (i.e. the version available on their website with their branding and layout).
- Deposit your item via Elements and the Library team will doublecheck that the appropriate version has been uploaded and apply any embargo period to your item before it goes live.The bibliographic details will then display on your web profile, and the full text of your work will be available through Elements either immediately or after the embargo period is over.
- How do I identify a predatory publisher?
Predatory publishers charge authors a fee for publication with no intention of providing the expected services eg. peer review, preservation, editorial and indexing services – in return. It is common for publishers to charge fees, known as APCs/BPCs, to publish open access and this is a legitimate business model; however, the publisher should be providing a good publishing service.
The negative consequences for an author of publishing with a predatory publisher include their research outputs may be harder to find and cite and reputational damage.
What to consider?
Things to consider when opting to publish in ANY journal are:
- Does their website or communications contain basic grammatical or spelling errors? Have they contacted you with a spam-like emails? Equally, a well-written and effusive email that references specific works you’ve written may ask you for contributions on a vague theme that can allow for their predatory journal to be conflated with esteemed publications.
- Research the organisation and ask colleagues if they’re aware of the publisher.
- Check that the timings of communications sent from the publisher correspond with the time zone of the country they’ve stated they’re in.
- Think.Check.Submit is an invaluable online resource for identifying trusted publishers. . You can also use the which only indexes publishers who have met their inclusion criteria.
What to do if you think you are a victim of predatory publishing
If you suspect that you're in contact with a predatory journal but have not yet entered into any kind of agreement, the best thing to do is cease all communication. Beyond that, get in touch with the Open Research team to see what help can be provided.
You can also report predatory journals or publishers to .
- Does their website or communications contain basic grammatical or spelling errors? Have they contacted you with a spam-like emails? Equally, a well-written and effusive email that references specific works you’ve written may ask you for contributions on a vague theme that can allow for their predatory journal to be conflated with esteemed publications.
- How can I ensure I meet my funder's requirements if I publish Green?
- Check what your funder mandates around Open Access and embargoes. Contact the Library Open Access team, who will be happy to help with any questions.
- such as Sussex Research Online, via Elements. Most publishers will allow use of the author’s accepted version; this is the author’s final version including all the amendments post peer-review, but not the publisher’s copyedited PDF. Funders will generally require the author's accepted version to be deposited.
- . If your research funder requires you to publish Open Access and specifies it must be within a certain time period you will be able to check to see if your chosen journal complies.
- Upload your item via Elements or a subject specific repository
- If an embargo does apply the SRO team will add restrictions to your item so that it can only be viewed after the embargo period. This check is always done by the SRO team before making items live.
- If you are publishing the output of funded research, where applicable make sure your item acknowledges your funder, references the grant code and includes a statement on where underlying data can be accessed. Check the re-use licence required by your funder, who may specify that your item is made available under a CC-BY or equivalent licence.
- When your record is completed, deposit it in SRO and the team will check the details and make the record live. The bibliographic details will then display on your web profile, and the full text of your work will be available through Elements either immediately or after the embargo period is over.
Contact
Contact the Library Open Access team at openaccess@sussex.ac.uk
Get support with Sussex Research Online at sro@sussex.ac.uk