Library Subject Guides
Open access routes for journal articles are well established and provide options for researchers across all departments and subject areas. Over 80% of articles produced by University of York authors in 2023 were published openly (based on data from the open access dashboard) .
You do not need to pay an open access publication fee in order for your article to enjoy the benefits of open access or to comply with funder or REF open access requirements. Depositing your accepted manuscript in the research repository (see "Sharing via the White Rose Repository") will normally fulfil both of these aims.
However, you may prefer the final published version of your article to be openly available and there are a number of possible routes to explore to make this happen. Different journal types will offer different options for this "Gold" open access:
Fully open access journals
Hybrid journals
Closed/Subscription journals
For more information on the "gold" open access options available to York researchers, select one of the tabs.
Researchers affiliated to the University of York can publish open access in a number of academic journals without having to arrange payment of an open access article processing charge (APC). Instead the cost is covered by a "Transformative Agreement" arranged with the publisher by the Library. Transformative agreements aim to shift scholarly publishing to a fully open access model, whilst ensuring that publishers are remunerated fairly for their services.
In most cases you must be the author submitting the article details within the publisher's system to be eligible for an agreement. Some publishers will automatically include your article based on your affiliation to York, whilst for others you may have to select the appropriate option in the publisher's system when submitting.
If a journal is not covered by one of the University's open access agreements, you may need to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) to make the article openly available.
Many publishers will charge authors an Article Processing Charge (APC) to publish in their open access journals. They may also publish "Hybrid" journals, with a mix of open access and paywalled content, where the author has the option to pay an APC to make their article openly available.
The University receives funding from UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Trust that can be used to pay for APCs associated with research that they have funded, if you are publishing in a fully open access journal. If you are funded by either of these bodies you can make a request for funding at any time before publication. Before doing so, you should consider whether the paper is eligible for open access publication at no additional cost through an open access agreement.
If you are not funded by UKRI or Wellcome, and the journal you wish to publish in is not covered by one of the University's open access agreements, you may be able to request funding for an APC through the institutional open access fund, if you are publishing in a fully open access journal (criteria apply).
In addition to funding for UKRI and Wellcome Trust authors, the University provides an open access fund that can help researchers who cannot draw on other funding sources to pay their Article Processing Charge.
To apply for funding you must be a York-affiliated author and be publishing in a fully open access journal (or publishing a book with a fully open access publisher). You do not need to be the author submitting the article to the publisher to apply for funding.
More information on the institutional fund, including full eligibility criteria, is available on the Library website. You should apply for funding as early as is practical and prior to publication.
Some journals will allow you to publish your research openly without charging a fee. These journals have alternative models of funding which mean they do not pass on costs to authors or readers. The Directory of Open Access journals can be used to find quality free-to-publish open access journals in your subject area.
Sharing via the White Rose Research Repository (WRRO)For staff at York, depositing research to the institutional repository is the quickest way to enjoy the benefits of open access. This is known as "Green" open access.
White Rose Research Online (WRRO) is the main institutional repository for staff and students at York. WRRO is an open access repository and deposited outputs can be downloaded and viewed by anyone with an internet connection.
By depositing the accepted manuscript of your journal articles into WRRO you can fulfil most funder and REF open access requirements. The University's Research Publications policy means academic staff have the right to deposit any accepted manuscript and make this openly available when the final version is published by the journal.
1. Do I need funding for my journal article? If you are a member of research staff, in most cases you can fulfil your funder and REF requirements by depositing your accepted manuscript into Pure, avoiding the need to pay any open access publishing charge. If you are a postgraduate researcher, or a member of teaching staff, you may still be able to comply with your funder requirements via depositing into Pure, depending on the publisher's embargo period. Note that you can still choose to publish via a paid open access option even if you do not need to - many researchers do so in order that the final published version of their research is openly available.
2. Is the journal I want to publish in covered by one of the University's publishing agreements? Does this allow me to publish my article openly without charge?
3. If not covered by a publishing agreement, is the journal fully open access? If you are funded by UKRI or Wellcome, funding is available to cover these open access publishing charges. (Use this form to request UKRI funding). (Or do they offer a free open access model?)
4. If the journal you want to publish in is not covered by a publishing agreement and you are not in receipt of UKRI or Wellcome funding, you may be able to make use of the institutional Open Access Fund to cover an open access publishing charge. This fund can cover charges for articles in fully open access journals only.
Postgraduate researchers have almost identical options for publishing their journal articles open access as those available to research staff. However, there is one significant difference to be aware of:
Otherwise, postgraduates have the same access to paid open access routes as available to research staff. This means you can:
The Open Research team offer training to postgraduate researchers and staff through the Building Research and Innovation Capacity (BRIC) programme.
To book a session go to: SkillsForge - Postgraduate Researchers or LMS - Staff (login required).
Next sessions:
If you need information, take a look at the:
You can also contact the team by email lib-open-research@york.ac.uk to:
Alternatively, book an Open Research Online Appointment to discuss your individual needs.