Gold OA

Gold Open access is when journals publish articles that are freely available to the reader. In some instances, the author is asked to pay an Article Processing Charge, or APC. APCs vary in cost, with the average hovering around $2,500 USD. That being said, approximately 65% of Gold OA journals do not charge an APC.

Hybrid OA

Hybrid OA refers to subscription journals that permit authors to make individual articles freely available by paying a fee to the publisher or journal. Some of the fees are quite expensive, up to $5000. This is perhaps the least preferable method of attaining Open Access due to the fact that the university is paying double for content: through the initial dubscription, and the subsequent APC. Some have refered to this as fools Gold OA." For a full list visit Publishers with Paid Options for Open Access from SHERPA/RoMEO. For more on "fools Gold OA"...

Green OA

Green Green Open access can be achieved by publishing in a completely open access journal, some of which do not request APC charges. Alternatively, one can deposit his or her article to an Open Access repository (institutional or otherwise).

Publishers permit authors to self-archive three versions of an article or chapter:

• Pre-Prints –The version of the article before it’s been reviewed by the publisher.
• Post-Prints – The version of the article after it’s been reviewed and corrected, but before the publisher has formatted it for publication, or post-reviewed.
• Publisher’s Version/Version of Record – The version that is formatted and appears in print or online.