Open Access FAQs

What is Green Open Access?

Most publishers allow the accepted manuscript copy of articles to be uploaded to an institutional repository.   This is known as ‘Green’ Open Access, a standard practice which involves publishing in a traditional subscription journal in the usual way, while also self-archiving a copy of the accepted manuscript in a repository. The copy deposited in a repository can then often only be made available after an embargo period.

What is Gold Open Access?

Gold Open Access publishing refers to articles which are made freely available online, usually through a publisher’s site.  Some journals require payment of an article processing charge (APC) in order for the article to be made freely available.

Is Open Access compliant with copyright law?

When submitting an accepted manuscript to the Library for inclusion in the AFBI Repository, any copyright checks on the accepted manuscript are done by Library staff who consult the open access policies of individual journals.  Any applicable conditions or embargoes are applied as part of this process.  In short, the Library does the work to ensure that this Open Access route (‘Green’ Open Access) is compliant with copyright.

Why is my accepted manuscript required for Green Open Access?

The Library requests the accepted manuscript, which is the plain-text (e.g. Word document) version of the finished, accepted article inclusive of all changes from peer review, and would normally not require further changes before publication.  This is the version of the paper which is usually allowed for self-archiving in a repository.  If it is not possible to supply an accepted manuscript, please let us know.

What are the benefits of Open Access?

The benefits of depositing your work in the AFBI Repository include potentially higher citation rates, greater visibility of your work through inclusion in Google Scholar and CORE, and helping to develop a central repository of AFBI research, which can attract other researchers who may wish to collaborate with you.

What are Creative Commons Licences?

Creative Commons licences are public copyright licences which, once applied, allow creators and rightsholders to distribute their work, giving others the right to share and reuse the original work.  Creative Commons licences are usually applied to your work when publishing via the Gold Open Access route.

For further information on the different types of Creative Commons licences, please visit https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/ .