Introducing Open Access

Open access literature is defined as "digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions." The primary target of the open access movement is the peer-reviewed research that is reported in scholarly journals. Articles in these journals cannot be accessed without a subscription and/or cannot be widely shared due to copyright restrictions.

To overcome these barriers, authors can make their articles open access by either
1) depositing their work in an open access archive/repository or on their personal websites (“green OA”), or
2) publishing in an open access journal (“gold OA”).

These delivery mechanisms are discussed in greater detail below.

For more information, refer to these resources produced by Peter Suber, a leading open access advocate:

OA Option 1: Deposit Eprints in Open Access Repositories

As mentioned above, one way to make your work open access is by depositing it in an open access repository or archive ("green OA"). There are two types of repositories:

1) Institutional repositories (IR) aim to capture the research output associated with particular institutions, usually universities.
Example: AUB ScholarWorks collects, publishes and preserves research publications produced by scholars at The American University of Beirut. 

2) Subject-based repositories (SR) seek to collect digital works within particular disciplines.
Examples: The Forced Migration Research Archive (FMRA) was launched in September 2023 as a place for forced migration authors to deposit their research. The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is frequently used by forced migration authors who focus on legal issues. More generally, HAL SHS archives and disseminates scholarly literature in the human and social sciences. 

If you are not affiliated with an academic institution or if your institution does not yet have an IR, consider taking advantage of an SR.

Repositories host all types of research output - conference papers, theses and dissertations, course materials, blog posts, multimedia, data files, and eprints of journal articles - both unpublished or published, unrefereed or peer-reviewed. The practice of depositing digital documents into a repository is referred to as "self-archiving."

One of the best-kept secrets of scholarly publishing is that most journal publishers already allow some form of self-archiving of article eprints (pre- and postprints)! What about copyright? Since a preprint is the pre-published, pre-referreed draft of a journal article, the author holds copyright over this version and does not need to seek permission to archive it. A postprint is the version of an article after it has been accepted by a journal and undergone peer review (also referred to as the "Author's Accepted Manuscript"). Over 70% of journal publishers have given the go-ahead to authors to archive postprints; if one hasn't already, it very likely will when asked. (Authors can also propose modifying the publisher's copyright transfer agreement using an addendum.) Therefore, as this handout points out, "Don’t assume that publishing in a conventional or non-OA journal forecloses the possibility of providing OA to your own work--on the contrary."

At the same time, many conventional journal publishers impose embargoes, or delays, before postprints can formally be made available to the public (not preprints, since authors maintain copyright over these). Embargo periods may range from 6 to 24 months after an article is officially published. In these situations, authors can still proceed with depositing their postprints and providing the requisite metadata to the repository. Even if full-text access is closed for a certain period, this does not restrict individuals from submitting requests to the repository for copies to be used for research purposes. Once the embargo period has passed, access can be reset to open.

Some authors elect to bypass repositories and post eprints on their personal web sites. This certainly works in the short-term - and in some cases may be the only option, if a journal's policy prohibits self-archiving in a repository. However, the advantage of a repository is it can ensure persistent access to and long-term preservation of an author's research.

For recent examples of self-archived pre- and post-prints, browse through the references under "Green OA" in the monthly Open Access Round-ups posted on my other blog.

Resources:
- See this Explainer on self-archiving postprints.
- Use openDOAR to locate an open access repository.
- Check this list from the Open Access Directory for subject repositories.
- Read up on the benefits of repositories.
- Search in the SHERPA/RoMEO database for publishers' copyright and self-archiving policies.
- Take a closer look at the self-archiving policies of forced migration-related journals.
- Refer to this short guide on how to obtain your postprint from the publisher.
- Use this tookit to learn how to keep track of the different versions of your article.
- Learn more about author addenda from SPARC.

OA Option 2: Publish in an Open Access Journal

A second option for making your work open access is to publish an article in a relevant OA journal ("gold OA"). The forced migration field has experienced a bit of a surge in scholarly OA journal publishing, so prospective authors have more choices now than even just a year or so ago. Start by checking out this partial list that I compiled. For a more comprehensive place to look, try the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

But before you dive into a search for a suitable title, keep in mind the following:

1) Business Models: OA journals employ a variety of business models to cover their production costs, one of which involves charging a fee for an accepted article to be published (also referred to as an "Article Processing Charge," or APC). Because the bill for the fee usually goes to the submitting author, this model has also become known as "author pays." More often than not, it is usually the author's funder or employer who ends up footing the bill. (Although see this blog post for more information about the uneven impact of APCs on certain authors.) That said, of the journals listed in the a/m DOAJ, most do not charge publication fees. This type of OA journal is often referred to as providing "diamond open access."

2) Quality: OA journals vary in quality, just like traditionally-published journals. But the relative ease of launching online journals and the lure of APCs have attracted some less-than-reputable publishers to the open access scene. So here are a few resources to help assess a journal's credentials:
- Search for a title in DOAJ (this blog post describes the process the directory undertook to weed out so-called "predatory journals");
- Use the criteria highlighted in this library resource to perform your own evaluation of an individual OA journal or publisher.

3) Peer Review: Some funders will only provide support for research published in peer-reviewed OA journals. However, not all OA journals represented in the DOAJ or on my list are peer-reviewed. While good editors can still ensure adherence to high quality standards, the absence of peer review may prove to be a sticking point in some situations.

4) OA Spectrum: Some OA journals are more open than others. As noted in the first post, the definition of open access refers to price and permission barriers. Some journals remove price barriers (i.e., articles are free to read) but may retain permission barriers (e.g., articles are still copyrighted). Other journals remove price barriers and at least some permission barriers. Two terms coined by Peter Suber to capture these distinctions are "gratis OA" for the former and "libre OA" for the latter. (For an even more finely tuned measure of openness, refer to this chart.) Using Creative Commons licenses can help clarify how open a given work is. (You can read more on these in this blog post.)

Resources:
- Browse for both OA journals and articles in those journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals; you can also filter search results by various fields including publication charges and licenses.
- Law reviews are very often gratis OA, but they are not well represented in the DOAJ. Another source is the Electronic Journals Library (select "Jurisprudence" and tick "freely available" on the right). 
- If you receive an email inviting you to publish in an OA journal you are not familiar with, follow the guidance provided in the Evaluating Journals toolkit to help you confirm its bona fides. 

OA Option 3? Hybrid OA Journals

Hybrid open access is similar to gold OA, but different! Under the hybrid OA model, publishers, upon payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC), will grant immediate open access to individual articles that appear in otherwise traditional subscription-based journals.  Most of the big journal publishers have now adopted a version of this model, e.g., Oxford Univ. Press, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, etc. 

For recent examples of forced migration-related articles published under the hybrid OA model, browse through the monthly Open Access Round-up posts on my other blog.

The hybrid OA arrangement offers authors the twofold benefit of continuing to publish in their journal of choice and having open access provided to their research articles immediately, rather than waiting for an embargo period to pass. Typically, however, the APCs for hybrid OA journals are significantly higher than those levied by pure OA journals. As a result, some funders/employers do not cover hybrid OA publication fees.

Despite the higher APCs, a recent study noted an uptick in hybrid OA since 2014. The author concluded that this was a response in part to the introduction of new payment arrangements for APCs set up by various research funders in Europe.

Resources:
- View hybrid OA articles published in Oxford Univ. Press' three forced migration-specific journals on the following pages: 1) International Journal of Refugee Law; 2) Journal of Refugee Studies: JRS (2004-2013); JRS (2014-2021); JRS (2022+); and 3) Refugee Survey Quarterly. 
- Visit this table for further details about the hybrid options offered by a range of forced migration-related journals.
- Read this blog post for further information on "Article Processing Charges."

Creative Commons Licenses

Creative Commons Licenses can help authors/content creators more explicitly indicate how their work can be used and shared. Specifically, "[w]ith a Creative Commons license, you keep your copyright but allow people to copy and distribute your work provided they give you credit — and only on the conditions you specify... ."

Simply follow the instructions provided on the "Choose a License" page. You will then be provided some HTML code to insert on your web site or you can include a link from your document, photo, video or other creative work to the relevant license.

Here is a breakdown of the six CC licenses available:

  • = Attribution 
  • = Attribution and No Derivatives 
  • = Attribution and Share Alike
  • = Attribution and Non Commercial
  • = Attribution and Non Commercial and No Derivatives 
  • = Attribution and Non Commercial and Share Alike

So what do these mean?  The CC site provides a wealth of information about not only the licenses but also things to consider before selecting a license.  Wikipedia also has a helpful overview.

CC licenses are popping up all over the place, and discussions about open access invariably reference them. For example, funders of open access research are increasingly requiring that specific types of licenses be used. A case in point is the UKRI, whose policy expresses a preference for publication in an OA journal operating under the most liberal license, or CC BY.

Resource:
- Refer to Open Content: A Practical Guide to Using Creative Commons Licences for more detailed information about CC licenses and how to choose the appropriate one for your work.

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

To recap: An Article Processing Charge is a fee that is charged to authors to make their articles open access in either a fully open access journal (Gold OA) or in a hybrid journal. It is often referred to as the "author pays" model, but generally, it is the author's employer or funding body that ends up paying the APC.

How much are APCs? In a small study of open access articles published in a wide variety of journals by forced migration authors, I found that hybrid OA APCs were significantly higher than APCs for publishing in gold OA journals: an average of $2995/median of $3000 for the former versus an average of $1646/median of $1595 for the latter. This is consistent with findings by other studies (see, e.g., Pinfield et al., 2017). I have also monitored the costs of hybrid OA fees charged by 15 forced migration-specific journals over the years. (See this table.) For a majority, APCs have increased steadily since 2017. In 2022, the average APC for this set of titles was $3350, up from $3169 in 2020. 

The consequences of this shift from a "pay-to-read" model to a "pay-to-publish" model are summarized in this blog post:

"The APC model represents a lateral move in terms of access, greatly improving access for readers but shifting the inequity in the system onto authors. It allows everyone to read the work of others, but limits the ability to publish one’s own work to those with sufficient funds to cover the costs of doing so. This greatly disadvantages authors from less-wealthy regions of the world, along with unfunded researchers, and entire fields without the significant funding structures found in some of the sciences that are largely driving the move to APC models."

The proliferation of the APC business model has been particularly challenging for authors in the Global South. As these South Africa-based researchers note, "The cost of a PlosOne article is 20% of the cost of a Masters student’s scholarship. So the choice is 'do I give a Masters student a scholarship, or publish more in open access journals?'" A study of publication in emergency medicine and critical care journals found that "[w]hen Purchasing Power Parity was considered, compared to United States authors, article process charges were shown to be 2.24 times more expensive for South African authors, 1.75 times more for Chinese authors, 2.28 times more for Turkish authors and 1.56 times more for Brazilian authors."

What about fee waivers for authors based in low- or middle-income countries? This study found that most of the large journal publishers do have some kind of waiver policy in place, but this applies principally to APCs for Gold OA journals; hybrid journals are generally excluded. The reasoning is that authors with limited financial means can simply publish their articles in a subscription-based journal in the usual way at no cost, and then use the Green route to make their article OA. 

Even when journals offer waiver policies, as this article explains, "very often, [researchers in Africa] are not eligible for waivers, because they are based in a country with high enough per capita income, even though such high per capita income may not reflect in the extent to which the country’s government supports researchers.  In other instances, researchers from low- and middle-income countries may be ineligible for waivers because they have a named high-income country coauthor on their manuscript, even when they have received little or no financial support through such a coauthor... ."

Publication fees for hybrid OA journals are increasingly being folded into so-called "read-and-publish agreements," whereby contracts negotiated between libraries and publishers end up covering both subscriptions and APCs. However, these agreements have largely been undertaken by institutions based in Western Europe and North America. As such, in the view of this author, they continue to perpetuate "a two-tier system of scholarly publishing based on access to funds needed to meet publishing charges."

While other routes to open access exist (i.e., publishing in OA journals that do not charge APCs, depositing eprints of articles in institutional repositories, etc.), the reality is that financial hurdles in the form of publication fees are limiting the ability of certain researchers to contribute to the global knowledge base. The risk remains that valuable research goes unpublished and unseen when these financial hurdles cannot be overcome. 


Other Types of OA Works

While the focus of the open access movement has been on peer-reviewed journal research, scholarly output provided in other formats is also being made OA: for example, theses and dissertations, chapters in books, and even books themselves.

I often reference theses and dissertations on my principal blog, Forced Migration Current Awareness; you can browse these via the subject label "theses."

I also link to OA-available book chapters as I come across them.  These are not designated with any specific subject labels; however, I have compiled a listing of OA book chapters posted as of January 2018. For post-2018 references, search for "chapter" in the blog, and then browse accordingly.

Finally, I maintain an "Open Access Books" page on my Forced Migration Library blog. To locate additional OA titles, check out the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) and OAPEN: Online Library and Publication Platform. The Open Access Directory also maintains a list of publishers.