The University of Sheffield
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Open Access Key Concepts

The guiding principle for Open Access publishing (OA) is that materials should be available to read and download for free from the Internet and there should be no restrictions on how the material is subsequently used. The only constraint on reuse is that authors retain control over the integrity of their work and should be properly acknowledged and cited.

There are broadly two models for OA: Green and Gold

Green OA

Authors deposit the final peer-reviewed version of their paper (this is usually not the publisher’s page-formatted version) in an institutional repository (IR) or subject repository, in parallel with conventional publication. The paper is published as normal and accessible via normal channels, but the version in the IR can provide free access, usually after an embargo period. University of Sheffield authors can deposit their publications in WRRO (White Rose Research Online) to achieve Green OA. The SHERPA/RoMEO database details the Open Access policies of individual journals/publishers.

Gold OA

Authors submit papers to OA journals which offer free access immediately on publication. For commercial OA publishers, the author pays an article processing charges (APC), which is usually somewhere between £500 and £3000. There are also numerous free peer-reviewed OA journals supported by academic communities. Hybrid journals are subscription journals which offer an option for immediate OA on payment of an APC. Sheffield has set up an University Publication Fund [link to OA Guidelines page] to help support authors with the payment of APCs.

The open access movement has always been actively supported and promoted by the research library community. By 2007, all the Research Councils had some form of mandate for OA in place and from 2008 the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) adopted a requirement that authors deposit papers in a central repository, PubMedCentral. Despite this, the growth in papers available via OA has been relatively slow.

However the publication of the Finch report in the summer of 2012 and the RCUK response ‘Research Councils UK Policy on Access to Research’, are set to have a huge impact on the future growth and direction of OA publishing in the UK

In brief, Finch strongly supported a rapid transition to OA and recommended that Gold OA should be the preferred route. In response, RCUK will require, from 1 April 2013, that all research papers should be OA, preferentially under Gold OA with authors able to use Green where their journal of choice does not offer Gold.

The above recommendations have major implications for academic researchers, particularly those funded by RCUK who will have to comply with the above requirements from April 2013. For more information and advice on how to do this please see University of Sheffield Open Access Guidance page.

SPARC®, (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), is an alliance of universities, research libraries, and organizations which sponsors and publishes SOAN, a monthly newsletter offering news and analysis of the open access movement. If you'd like to know more about SPARC or subscribe to SOAN, please follow the links below: