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 Green Route
Green Open Access offers researchers an accessible way to share their work openly. In this model, you first publish your work “closed” with a publisher, but then deposit a version of it in a repository (such as PURE, the VU Research Portal). This ensures your research is findable and readable—even if the article or book is not Open Access through the publisher.
Most publishers have policies regarding “self-archiving.” In many cases, you’re allowed to make your accepted author manuscript (AAM) openly available after an embargo period. In addition to publisher policies, Dutch copyright law also allows researchers to share their publications openly under certain conditions.
How does VU support you?
The VU University Library automatically makes all short scholarly publications by VU researchers Open Access in PURE after six months, unless the author opts out. This is based on Article 25fa of Dutch copyright law, also known as the Taverne Amendment. The library can also advise you on publisher self-archiving policies.
What are the benefits of publishing via Green Open Access?
- There are no reading or publishing fees (APC/BPC) associated with making your work openly available via a repository.
- Automatic support: VU makes your short scholarly publications Open Access after six months.
- The green route is recognized by publishers as a legitimate way to make your work openly available.
- Publications in institutional repositories like PURE are preserved long-term and protected from loss or removal from commercial platforms.
What are the drawbacks of Green Open Access?
- Embargo periods: Many publishers demand a waiting period before you can make your work open. The Taverne Amendment also applies a six-month embargo, which may not meet the requirements of funders like NWO or the EU.
- The Taverne Amendment has a limited scope. It only applies to short academic works, not to f.e. books.
- Conditions for Green Open Access vary by publisher, journal, and publication type (article/book), which can make it complicated for researchers.
- Since you first publish “closed,” you often sign away rights to your work. People can read it for free, but reuse and redistribution are usually restricted.
VU Amsterdam encourages researchers to make informed choices about the Open Access route that best fits their needs. The green route is a low-barrier way to make your research accessible—especially when direct Open Access via the ‘gold’ route isn’t feasible or affordable.
Want to know if you can open up your publication through the green route? Check the Open Policy Finder or contact the VU Open Access Team.
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 Diamond route!
