What does open access mean?
Open access means a research output can be read online by anyone, free of charge, without a subscription or institutional login. The Budapest Open Access Initiative of 2002, the best-known definition, also includes the freedom to download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to and otherwise use the full text for any lawful purpose.
That second part is why licenses matter. A paper that is free to read but carries no license (sometimes called "gratis" open access) can be read but not legally republished or mined. A paper under an open license such as CC BY ("libre" open access) can also be reused. The colours describe where and how the open version appears, not which license it has.
What is green open access?
Green open access is the author making a version of their work freely available in a repository, whatever the journal does. It is also called self-archiving. The repository can be institutional, run by a university; subject-based, such as arXiv or PubMed Central; or generalist, such as Zenodo or Life of Research.
Which version you may deposit, and when, depends on your publishing agreement. Publishers commonly allow the submitted manuscript (preprint) at any time and the accepted manuscript either immediately or after an embargo, and rarely allow the publisher's final PDF. Green open access costs the author nothing.
What is gold open access?
Gold open access is the journal itself publishing the final article openly on its website at the moment of publication, usually under a Creative Commons license. Readers never pay.
Many gold journals cover their costs with an article processing charge (APC) paid by the author, the author's institution or the funder. APCs vary widely between journals and publishers. Before submitting, check the journal's current fee, whether your funder or institution pays it, and whether a "transformative" or "read and publish" agreement between your institution and the publisher already covers it.
What is diamond open access?
Diamond open access is publishing in which a journal or platform makes articles free to read and charges authors nothing. It is sometimes called platinum open access. Costs are met by universities, libraries, scholarly societies, funders, governments or volunteer editors.
Many diamond journals are run by research communities and are smaller than commercial titles. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) lists open-access journals that meet its quality criteria and lets you filter for journals that charge no fees.
What are hybrid and bronze open access?
Hybrid open access is a subscription journal offering to make individual articles open in exchange for an APC, while the rest of the journal stays behind a paywall. Critics argue that institutions then pay twice, once for subscriptions and again for APCs, and several funders restrict whether their grants may be spent on hybrid fees. Check your funder's policy before paying one.
Bronze describes articles that a publisher has made free to read on its own site without an open license. Bronze access can be withdrawn at any time and grants no reuse rights, so it is not a substitute for a green or gold copy.
How do the models compare?
| Model | Where it is free | Who pays | Usual version | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Repository | Nobody (repository is funded separately) | Preprint or accepted manuscript | Varies; often CC BY when rights are retained |
| Gold | Journal website | Often the author's side, through an APC | Version of record | Usually CC BY |
| Diamond | Journal or platform | Institutions, societies, funders | Version of record | Usually a Creative Commons license |
| Hybrid | Subscription journal, one article | Author's side, through an APC | Version of record | Usually CC BY |
| Bronze | Publisher website | Publisher's choice | Version of record | None |
The models combine: an article can be published gold in a journal and also deposited green in a repository, which adds a second, independent copy.
How can you check what you are allowed to share?
Start with your publishing agreement, which is the binding document. Then use these resources:
- Open policy finder (formerly Sherpa Romeo) summarises which version of an article each publisher and journal allows you to share, where, and after what embargo.
- Your funder's open-access policy. Funders in cOAlition S, through Plan S, require immediate open access under an open license for the research they fund.
- Your institution's library or research office, which often handles open-access payments and can check agreements for you.
- For a new journal you do not know, the Think. Check. Submit. checklist helps you judge whether it is trustworthy before you submit.
How do you make your work green open access on Life of Research?
Deposit the version your agreement allows, usually the accepted manuscript, as a Journal article record. Enter the journal title, volume, issue, pages and the article's DOI under Publication details, so that citations and metadata point readers and search engines to the published version as well.
Life of Research publishes records immediately and has no embargo setting. If an embargo applies, wait until it has ended before depositing. The step-by-step guide walks through the form.