About this guide
This guide is a resource for those considering submitting an article to an open access journal.
This guide will discuss:
- funding options available to the York community
- resources on how to find potential open access journals that may be a fit for your article
- criteria for evaluating potential submission outlets
- other FAQs
Open Access Publishing for York University Authors Q&A
Section A: Funding Options Available to the York Community*
1. Which articles are eligible for library funding support to be published in an Open Access journal?
- Only articles whose first author is affiliated with York University are eligible. Eligible content types include Open Access Peer-reviewed journal articles.
2. Am I eligible to receive funding for OA publishing if I received a grant for the project?
- Authors must use all available funds to cover publishing fees from the grant before applying for library OA funding support
3. How often can I apply for funding support?
- The first author of a research group can submit one article per academic year (May 1 to April 31).
4. Which OA initiatives (and journals) DOES the library support with funding?
- York University Libraries currently will support researchers to publish with one of these “Gold OA” initiatives, but will consider others:
- Biomed Central (BMC journal list)
- Bioline (Bioline journal list)
- Hindawi (Hindawi publishing corp journal list, SAGE-Hindawi journal list)
- PLoS (PLoS journal list)
- RSC (RSC journal list contact aalupton@yorku.ca for voucher)
For a list of possible places to submit your paper please see this Selective List of Open Access and Paid Access Fees and this list of Publishers with Paid Options for Open Access. To be potentially eligable for funding please verify that the journal you are submitting to is not hybrid and does not have an embargo. (See question 5 below.) Please contact Aaron Lupton if you are unsure of whether your journal is subject to the restrictions.
5. What does the library NOT support with funding i.e. what are the restrictions?
Restrictions include:
- Hybrid journals. These are publications under subscription control for which authors of individual articles can pay an “open choice” fee to make their papers freely available to any reader. The Libraries will not cover the “open choice” fee. For more options see question 9
- Journals with embargoes that limit Open Access to content for a specific time period after publication, if it is longer than the publication timeline required by the funding source. Listings of journals providing delayed OA are available at PubMed Central and Highwire Press.
Section B: Evaluating and selecting Open Access journals
6. How do I select an Open Access journal for publishing my research?
The following resources will help identify and select an appropriate open access journal:
- Directory of Open Access Journals classifies OA journals by subject category and can be searched at the article level. DOAJ also provides information on Creative Commons licensing policies and copyright.
- Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory – use the advanced search to find:
- OA journals by limiting to open access publications.
- Canadian open access publications under the country of publication.
- Publishers’ websites
- For Indexing information , see question 7 below
Delayed OA: Public access policies typically permit embargoed access:
- CIHR requires an article to be available within 12 months of publishing
- NIH requires it to be available within 12 months of publishing
- Listings of journals providing delayed OA are available at PubMed Central and Highwire Press.
Hybrid journals provide open access at the article level on payment of a fee. Details on article processing fees for OA and hybrid journals are available through BioMed Central.
Have a look at this interactive graph that shows the relationship between article influence and publication fees, essentially providing a cost-effectiveness tool for open access journals.
Provide feedback to your subject librarian regarding additional initiatives for the Libraries to support
NOTE: Beware Predatory Open Access Journals! These are journals whose main goal is to generate profits through author fees rather than promote academic scholarship. Here you can check out an ever-increasing list of predatory open access journals.
7. How do I find out what databases index the journal that I want to publish in?
Note that all Open Access publications can be accessed through Google Scholar; however, some disciplines rely more heavily on specialized databases, making this an important factor in journal selection.
Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory – use the advanced search to find:
- Indexing information to ensure your paper is available via the databases most used in your subject area
8. My funding source requires me to publish in an OA journal, but the journal I have chosen is not part of the current supported OA initiatives. How can I still publish in that journal?
There are many ways to make one's work accessible:
- Publish in a regular journal, but choose an OA-friendly one that allows you to archive your work on your personal website or an institutional website (Green OA) such as YorkSpace.
- The Sherpa/Romeo site ranks journals according to their policy regarding self-archiving. Type the title of the journal in the search box to find out what the publisher's archiving conditions are.
- This site discusses publishing in OA by discipline, and offers suggestions: http://open-access.net/ch_en/open_access_in_individual_disciplines/
- Publish in a regular journal, but license your work to the publisher instead of transferring your copyright to the publisher. You can do this by adding an Author Addendum to the standard publishing contract. (Green OA)
9. How do I submit my article to YorkSpace?
Did you know that your publisher may have a policy in place that allows you to deposit your published articles into an institutional repository? YorkSpace is York University's institutional repository.
- Follow the step-by-step guide to creating an account, learning about your publisher's policy, and depositing your research article and materials in YorkSpace
10. Where can I find out more about publishing my research?
- Contact your subject librarian, or Aaron Lupton (e-resources librarian).
- The Scholarly Communications Initiative
- York Digital Journals
- YorkSpace
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