Introduction
Open Access publishing is web accessible, free of charge, and free from most licensing restrictions. OA means a work can be widely shared and cited. There are two types of open access:
Gold OA: Publishers automatically and immediately make works available online to all at no cost. Some gold OA publishers charge article publication fees, but that does not mean they are vanity publishers. Fees are often paid by grant funds or institutional open access funds, and some publishers are willing to waive their fees.
Green OA: Publishers allow authors to archive their articles in an online open access repository committed to long-term preservation — either a subject repository (PubMed Central, arXiv, e.g.) or a college/university institutional repository like CUNY Academic Works.
Explore the tabs in this guide to learn more about Open Access at CUNY and beyond.
Source: Open @ CUNY
Read About Open Access
Following is a short list of readings that provide an overview of the landscape of open access publishing. Also see the Further Reading section of this guide.
- Open Access by Peter SuberA concise intro that "tells us what open access is and isn't, how it benefits authors and readers of research, how we pay for it, how it avoids copyright problems, how it has moved from the periphery to the mainstream, and what its future may hold."
- Understanding Open Access: When, Why & How to Make Your Work Openly AccessibleComprehensive and practical resource from the Authors Alliance.
- Open Access and the Humanities: Contexts, Controversies and the Future by Martin Paul EveCalled a "new core title" and "a fair-minded and intellectually honest exploration of open access ... as it works, does not work, and could work in the humanities" in a Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy review by the GC's Jill Cirasella.
- "Open Access Without Tears" by Barbara FisterA quick and easy intro to OA for Academics.
- Open Access to Scholarly Articles: The Very BasicsFrom the blog Open Access @ CUNY.
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Open Access is...
CUNY Academic Works
CUNY Academic Works is an open access institutional repository dedicated to collecting and providing worldwide access to the research, scholarship and creative work of the City University of New York. In service to CUNY’s mission as a public university, content in Academic Works is freely available to all. (Read more.)
GC Library Guide for Academic Works - Find out how to prepare your work for submission, get step-by-step uploading instructions, and learn more about Academic Works.
Open Access: Six Myths to Put to Rest
Six OA Myths Put to Rest - From Peter Suber, Author of Open Access (MIT Press, 2012)
- Myth 1: The only way to provide open access to peer-reviewed journal articles is to publish in open access journals
- Myth 2: All or most OA journals charge publication fees
- Myth 3: Most author-side fees are paid by the authors themselves
- Myth 4: Publishing in a conventional journal closes the door on making the same work open access
- Myth 5: Open access journals are intrinsically low in quality
- Myth 6: Open access mandates infringe academic freedom
Read the full text of Peter Suber's article debunking the six OA myths in The Guardian.