As work continues on a new National Open Access Strategy and the conversation around publication culture is increasingly taking place within universities, this is a great moment to critically reflect on the choices you make as a researcher. This week, we’ll highlight one route to Open Access publishing each day and what it means for you as a researcher.
Open Access: The Gold Route
Gold Open Access means your research is freely available to everyone immediately upon publication, after a fee (APC or BPC) is paid by you as the author, your institution, or your research funder. The publisher ensures the article/book is accessible online, usually under an open license such as Creative Commons. This increases the visibility, citations, and (societal) impact of research, as readers worldwide can access it without a paywall.
The term "Gold Open Access" is often used to refer to fully Open Access journals, but it can also apply to "hybrid" journals. These are journals that still operate under a subscription model, publishing both Open Access and closed articles.
How does VU support you?
VU enters into agreements with publishers to ensure that VU researchers can publish Open Access in hybrid and Gold Open Access journals without incurring additional costs.
What are the benefits of publishing via Gold Open Access?
- Your work is immediately openly available, leading to greater visibility and impact.
- VU has agreements with publishers that allow VU researchers to receive a 100% discount on their APCs for various hybrid and Open Access journals, meaning no extra costs for them.
- Because your work is immediately Open Access, you comply with the policy requirements of both VU and potential research funders such as NWO or the EU.
- Many commercial publishers have established reputations in academia and publish journals/books with strong reputations.
What are the drawbacks of publishing via Gold Open Access?
- The publication fees (APC/BPC) can be very high and increase each year. VU’s institutional agreements do not cover all journals, meaning authors may have to pay themselves.
- Due to the high and rising costs of institutional agreements, publishers increasingly impose a maximum number of free articles. These limits are unfortunately reached faster each year due to the growing number of publications. In such cases, authors must pay themselves.
- Commercial publishers often prioritize profit maximization over the interests of the research community and society. Since these commercial entities still dominate the current publication landscape, this can lead to exploitation of researchers’ efforts.
- Not all researchers have access to funding or institutional deals that cover the costs of Gold Open Access, which can exacerbate (global) inequality.
VU Amsterdam encourages researchers to make informed choices when it comes to Open Access publishing. For every publication outlet, you as an author should consider which Open Access routes are available and whether they suit your preferences and circumstances.
Ultimately, at VU Amsterdam we aim to share research quickly and visibly worldwide — an important step toward open and responsible science that can make an impact.
This week, we’ll highlight one Open Access route each day to help guide you in open publishing. Tomorrow, we’ll look at another route to Open Access: the Green route!
