Open Access

The most consistent method of making your work open access is posting it to a repository. This is often called "Green" open access. Green open access has many benefits, including allowing you more control over what types of work you share, where it is located and how it is organized, and how it may be used by others. Open access through a repository is also the only option that is always completely free, since the majority of open access repository platforms are managed by institutions, funding agencies, or non-profit organizations which support open science.

The most challenging aspect of green open access is navigating the copyright issues that are involved with published work and the rights authors may transfer to publishers as part of their publication agreement. While most publishers do allow authors to share their work in a repository, there are usually requirements related to which version of the article is permitted (such as the submitted version or the accepted version) and there may be an embargo period of 12-24 months before the open access version can be publicly available. This requires authors to pay more attention to the content of their publishing agreements, or review the publisher's self-archiving policies.

If you are interested in developing a strategy for making your work open access through a repository, here are some tips on understanding your rights as an author, and some suggestions on finding an appropriate repository for your work.

If you want to publicly post your work (whether in a repository, your website, or even sites like Academia.edu or Research Gate), you must retain the appropriate copyright permissions. Traditional journals often require authors to transfer most or all of their copyrights as part of the publication agreement. However, many publishers do have established policies that allow authors to archive their work as a part of their standard publishing agreement. The JISC Open Policy Finder is an excellent resource to help you determine a publisher's standard policy for self-archiving. 

If you retain the rights to share your work, you can also choose what permissions to give others when using your work by assigning a license, such as a Creative Commons license. Licenses can make your work more discoverable to unanticipated readers, and encourage innovative uses - such as teaching, text and data mining, and meta-analysis. We provide some guidance on choosing a license below.

If you are interested in more information regarding your rights as an author rights and strategies for negotiating with publishers, visit the Copyright for Authors guide.

General Repositories and Resources

This list includes indexes of repositories, as well as useful information regarding policies from publishers, funders and institutions that enable posting your work in a repository.

Institutional Repositories

Institutional repositories are digital collections managed by a university or research organization. ASU Library's KEEP Institutional Repository supports open access, allowing for the discovery of the creative and scholarly output of the ASU community.

Disciplinary Repositories

Discipline or subject repositories are online archives designed to preserve, organize, and disseminate research either centered on a single discipline (e.g biology or physics) or multi-disciplinary (e.g. life sciences or humanities). Material is deposited by researchers throughout the world to be freely accessible with limited restrictions.

The image is an infographic titled "How open is your preprint?" It consists of a large heading at the top and several sections below it. The sections discuss different licensing options for preprints, affecting how the work is shared and reused. On the left, an orange gradient bar labeled "OPEN" contrasts with the right side marked as "CLOSED."

Each section details a specific type of Creative Commons (CC) license:

1. CC0 Waiver: This license allows an author to place work in the public domain, waiving all copyright and related rights. It allows the reuse of preprints in any medium without attribution. This is notably ideal for datasets and works by U.S. government employees.

2. CC BY (Attribution): This license allows modification or reposting as long as proper attribution is given. Fits the original definition of open access.

3. -NC, -ND, -SA: This section explains Noncommercial (NC), No Derivatives (ND), and Share Alike (SA). It states restrictions such as prohibiting commercial use, how to adapt and share the material, and requiring shared adaptations to be licensed similarly.

4. No License: This indicates all rights reserved without a selected license. It outlines restrictions on sharing and reusing without explicit permission.

A "Remember..." section at the bottom highlights considerations regarding modifications to the work, permissions, and copyright agreements.