Types of Journal Models

Publishers offer a variety of open access models that may or may not meet your open access needs and those of your funder(s). Before you submit, take the time to understand your selected journal's open access policies. There are six major journal models:

• Closed: The subscription journal does not permit open access. The author transfers copyright to the publisher and the article appears behind a paywall on the publisher's website.
• Diamond or Subscribe to Open (S2O): The author's work is licensed under a Creative Commons license on the publisher's website. The author does not need to pay any fees and retains copyright.
• Gold: The author pays an APC, and their work is licensed under a Creative Commons license in a fully open access journal on the publisher's website. The author retains copyright.
• Hybrid: The author has the option to pay an APC to have their work licensed under a Creative Commons license in a subscription journal on the publisher's website. If the open access option is exercised, the author retains copyright.
• Bronze: The author pays an APC, and their work is published in a nominally open access journal on the publisher's website, but the author transfers copyright to the publisher, and the work is not published under a Creative Commons license.
• Green: The author transfers copyright to the publisher and the article appears behind a paywall on the publisher's website, but the publisher permits the author to deposit a copy of their article in an open access repository following publication (see Self-Archive).

  ---

   

Use the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) to find an open access journal that fits your needs. All journals listed in DOAJ have been evaluated against the COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, making this a good screening tool for predatory publishers.

Predatory journals are a concern in open access publishing. Use the Think. Check. Submit. checklist tool to help ensure that you are submitting to a trusted journal.

Some open access journals ask authors to pay an article processing charge (APC) to cover the costs associated with publication. These fees can vary from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. This applies to gold open access journals and hybrid journals where you are selecting the open access option. 

Learn More about APCs

• The Oligopoly’s Shift to Open Access: How the Big Five Academic Publishers Profit from Article Processing Charges

  Article estimating global spending on APCs shared between the big 5 publishers.

When you publish your work in an academic journal, you enter into a copyright agreement with the journal publisher. Every agreement is different, and it's important that you understand what rights the publisher is allowing you to retain and what rights you're being asked to transfer. This will control how you're allowed to share your work in the future. Many open access publications work on a licensing agreement that allows you to hold onto the full copyright for your work, but some do not. Learn more about understanding publisher agreements, copyright, and what you can do to protect your rights as a creator:

• Author Rights and the SPARC Author Addendum

  Concise resource on author rights in scholarly publishing and open access. Includes a link to the Canadian Author Addendum that can be used to modify publisher agreements.