4. Access: Consider access options for your work

Your last step is to consider what level of access you would like your manuscript to have once it's published. You will want to know the access models of the journals to which you are submitting your manuscript, and, in the case of open access journals, open access license types and any Article Processing Charges (APCs) the journals may have.

There are many types of access models for journals. Below are some of the more common types you may encounter. Gold, Green, and Hybrid are all types of open access models.

Gold:

• Articles are free for anyone to access (no subscription required)

Green:

• Articles can be freely accessible if author self-archives into a public repository
• Typically includes preprints and post-prints (usually not the final, i.e. copyedited and formatted, article)
• May involve an embargo period (i.e. you need to wait a specified period before others can access your article)

Hybrid:

• Only some articles are freely accessible

Closed Subscription:

• All articles are behind a paywall

If you are publishing your work in a journal that uses an open access model (i.e. gold, green, or hybrid) you will need to consider what type of Creative Commons license you would like to use for your work. Below are the different Creative Commons licenses you may encounter.

• Attribution (BY): Others who use your work in any way must give you credit in the way you request, but not in a way that suggests you endorse them or their use. If others would like to use your work without giving you credit or for endorsement purposes, they must get your permission first.
• ShareAlike (SA): You let others copy, distribute, display, perform, and modify your work, as long as they distribute any modified work on the same terms. If they want to distribute modified works under other terms, they must get your permission first.
• NonCommercial (NC): You let others copy, distribute, display, perform, and (unless you have chosen NoDerivatives) modify and use your work for any purpose other than commercially unless they get your permission first.
• NoDerivatives (ND): You let others copy, distribute, display and perform only original copies of your work. If they want to modify your work, they must get your permission first.
• Public Domain (CC0): You give up your copyright and put your work into the worldwide public domain. CC0 allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions.

For additional information about Creative Commons licenses, visit the Creative Commons Website.

When you're deciding what level of access you would like for your publication, you will also want to consider if you're willing to pay for open access. Some journals (not all, but some) will require something called an Article Processing Charge (APC) in order to make your article open access, and may charge more or less depending on the level of access you choose. You can visit the Library Support for OA Publishing page to see current agreements and potential discounts for OA publishing for current affiliates of UW-Madison.

Closed subscription journals, on the other hand, typically do not charge authors to publish their manuscript, but instead get their money from the users that pay to access the article.

Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay

The following resources can be used to find journal access model, licensing, and APC information. Regardless of which resource you decide to use, you will want to verify the information on the journal's website.

• Sherpa Romeo: This resource aggregates and presents publisher and journal open access policies from around the world. Every registered publisher or journal held in Romeo is carefully reviewed and analyzed by a specialist team who provide summaries of self-archiving permissions and conditions of rights given to authors on a journal-by-journal basis where possible (description from Sherpa Romeo).
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): DOAJ is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals (description from DOAJ). The DOAJ website also includes a filter for journals that don't require APCs, and APC information in the right-hand column of the results page.
• Library Support for OA Publishing: Created by the UW Libraries, this page contains current information relating to agreements and APC discounts for authors affiliated with UW-Madison.