Things to consider when publishing open access

Your publisher and funder will only permit specific versions of your articles to be archived in e-space. There are three main versions of an article:

• Pre-print is a draft version that has not been peer reviewed or accepted for publication.

• Author accepted manuscript (also known as AAM) is the version after peer review and corrections are made but before publisher copyediting and typesetting.

• Final published manuscript is the version as it appears in the journal. This is usually permitted for Gold Open Access.

For Green Open Access, most publishers only permit the author accepted manuscript. Check Sherpa Romeo to be certain of the allowed version.

For Gold Open Access you are usually permitted to deposit the final published manuscript.

An embargo is a period of time in which the output isn’t accessible. Embargo periods typically range between 6 and 24 months and are typically stipulated by the publisher.

When you deposit your output in e-space, we will check and add the embargo for you.

You can find your journal’s or publisher’s embargo in Sherpa Romeo.

An important element of Open Access is that the end user can clearly see how and for what purposes they are permitted to reuse your work.

Often when you publish Gold Open Access, the publisher will ask you to choose a Creative Commons Licence.

Creative Commons Licences are free, widely supported, and provide clear reuse permissions. If you want to know more about the different licences visit Creative Commons.

A DOI is an international, permanent identifier which gives your output a persistent link that can be cited and tracked.

Most publishers will assign a DOI to your output.

If your output has not been assigned a DOI by the publisher, we can coin one for you on request.