Open Access Glossary
Accepted Author Manuscript (AAM or AM)
Accepted author manuscript is a version of an article that has undergone the peer review process and has been accepted by the journal for publication, but has not yet been copyedited or typeset. Some publishers abbreviate this to AAM, others use AM - both mean the same thing.
Article Processing Charge (APC)
An APC is a fee paid to publishers to cover costs associated with publishing the article Open Access.
Author Original Manuscript (AOM or AO)
An author original manuscript is a manuscript that has not been edited or published. Essentially, it’s the first draft of your work, and hasn’t undergone any revisions by reviewers or editors. Some publishers abbreviate this to AOM, others use AO - both mean the same thing.
Book Processing Charge (BPC)
A BPC is a fee paid to publishers to cover costs associated with publishing a book Open Access.
Chapter Processing Charge (CPC)
A CPC is a fee paid to publishers to cover costs associated with publishing a book chapter Open Access.
Commercial Repository
A digital platform or service providing access to research for a fee or subscription charge, often owned by commercial publishers, e.g. ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, etc.
Date of Acceptance
The date the author has received notification from the journal’s publisher that their article has been accepted for publication.
Embargo
An embargo is where access to a piece of research is restricted for a predetermined time.
Diamond Open Access
Diamond Open Access is a publishing model where academic works are published, distributed and preserved with no fees to either the reader or the author. This is also known as Platinum Open Access.
Gold Open Access
Gold Open Access refers to works that are freely available online for anyone, anywhere to read. An article processing charge (APC) is usually applicable if you choose to publish Gold Open Access. These articles or books are published under CCBY licenses, meaning that there are fewer restrictions on reuse. For example, Edinburgh University Press’s Edinburgh Open is Gold OA.
Green Open Access
Green Open Access is an open access publishing model where a version of an author’s manuscript is placed into a repository, making it freely accessible for everyone. This is dependent on the funder or publisher, and unlike Gold Open Access, the copyright for these articles sits with the publisher or they are granted an exclusive license to publish the content. Green Open Access is also known as self-archiving.
Hybrid Journal
A hybrid open-access journal is a subscription based journal where some articles are open access.
Institutional Repository
Institutional repositories host open access articles and chapters on behalf of its faculty for dissemination. They enable researchers to self-archive their output and are used in the Green Open Access publishing model.
Open Access (OA)
Open Access (OA) refers to scholarly content that is freely available online, with the addition of an open access license that removes most restrictions on use and reuse. The goal of Open Access is to make research and scholarly works more widely available, accessible, and usable, which in turn promotes greater collaboration, innovation, and impact.
Open Access License
Open Access works are often licensed under Creative Commons licenses, which allow for the free distribution and use of the work, as long as the author is credited. Some licenses impose some restrictions on reuse – for example under a CCBY-NC license, the content could not be reused for commercial purposes.
Peer Review
Peer review is the process by which academic books and articles are assessed before publication. For more information on peer review, please see our Early Career Researcher hub. Open Access works are subject to the same peer-review process as traditional publishing.
Permissions
Open Access is typically published under an open license, such as Creative Commons, which allows others to share, adapt, and build upon the work. If you want to use OA content, the first step is to find out the terms of that specific work’s license. Each license has its own terms and conditions so it’s important to check these thoroughly.
Plan S
Plan S is an initiative for open access publishing. It was launched in 2018 by cOAlition S, a consortium of research agencies and funders from twelve European countries. Plan S requires researchers who benefit from state-funded research to publish their work in open repositories or in journals available open access.
Subscribe to Open (S2O)
Subscribe to Open is an Open Access model that converts journal’s gated content to OA through using existing library payments and relationships. Institutions subscribe to journals in the usual fashion, and as long as sufficient revenue for the year is reached, the journal’s volume for the current year is published OA. This therefore removes the reliance on author fees, such as APCs.
Self-Archiving
Self-archiving is the process of placing your manuscript in a repository. The manuscript is usually peer-reviewed and is placed in and is managed by your own institution’s archive.
Transformative Agreement
Also known as ‘read and publish’, transformative agreements are contracts negotiated between institutions and publishers that moves the contracted payment from a library or consortium to a publisher towards open access publishing.
