Open Access

Publishing your work in OA provides unrestricted access and reuse of your research outputs even without a subscription to journal packages. This form of publishing is also known as the Gold OA. 

Usually, an Article Processing Charge (APC) will be charged to authors when the paper gets accepted so that the research will be made available to readers and not just to subscribers. For Gold OA publications, copyright is usually retained by authors. Learn more from OA Copyright - Creative Commons licenses.
 

Types of OA Journals

Authors have the option to publish in

• full OA journals, where all articles are in Gold OA (e.g. Scientific Reports, Nature Communications, and journals from PLoS, BMC); or
• hybrid OA journals, where authors can choose to publish in the traditional way (without APC) or in Gold OA.

Most OA and hybrid OA journals charge APCs, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand US dollars. Generally, APCs are covered by institutions or funders. However, there are still many OA journals that publish OA articles without charge. Many of these journals are managed by institutions or academic associations. An example would be London Review of Education, published by UCL Press. To find more of such journals, check here. 
 

Alternative to Publishing OA

Publishing OA is one form of making your research articles openly accessible. If the APCs are an issue, or if you would like to publish in specific journals that do not have OA options, authors can go OA via Green OA route involving self-archival. 

What is a Transformative Agreement?

Transformative agreements, also known as transitional or "read and publish" agreements, are contracts signed between universities and publishers that transform the business model underlying scholarly publishing towards a fully open access model. 

The Library has been working closely with various publishers to obtain cost-effective Transformative Agreements (or Read-and-Publish agreements) for PolyU researchers. In these agreements with the publishers, PolyU corresponding authors may benefit from a full waiver of APC to publish their work with an Open Access option.

Some publishers offer a waiver or discount to PolyU authors who are paying APC to publish their work open access. The discount varies depending on the Library's (or University's) agreement with the publisher. Check the table below to learn more. 

Publishers that offer a discount on APC to PolyU Authors

Find other journals that publish OA without a charge

Over 11k OA journals publish articles without charging an APC. You can find these journals from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Try limiting by Subject area, Publisher, or Language to discover the journals that suit your need! As always, do consider the general criteria for journal selection even for OA journals. 

Many fake or predatory journals have emerged since the change in the publishing model. These journals publish articles as long as APC is paid, without giving a rigorous peer review process. As an author, you need to be cautious and avoid submitting your work to any of these journals. Publishing with such journals may ruin your research career.

Quick tools to help you identify potentially predatory journals:

• Think. Check. Submit.
  A simple checklist to help researchers identify trusted journals for their research.

• Beall's list
  A list of potential predatory OA journals and publishers compiled by a librarian. DO NOT submit to any journal or publisher listed here.

• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
  The directory of open access, peer-reviewed journals. DO NOT submit to an OA journal that's not indexed in this directory.

Contact us if you need any assistance!

Here are some additional indicators to facilitate journal evaluation: