Common Open Access Terms
Article processing charge (APC) - An article processing charge is a fee publishers charge to publish an open access article. This fee is sometimes called an Author Processing Charge or an Article Processing Fee.
Accepted manuscript (AM) - The final version of a scholarly work that has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication by a journal. Also known as an author-accepted manuscript, final accepted manuscript, or Author's Accepted Manuscript (AAM).
Bronze open access - A scholarly work is freely available to read on a publisher's website, but access is usually temporary and could close at any time.
Closed access - Access to content is restricted, usually requiring a payment or paid subscription for access. Also known as non-open access.
Creative Commons (CC) - Licenses allowing creators to share their copyrighted work so that it can be copied, edited, and built on, under copyright law while still allowing them to keep the copyright of the original work. There are six different license types that allow people different use of the original work. See here for more information about CC licenses.
Date of acceptance - The date a scholarly work is formally deemed by a publisher to be ready to be processed for publication and no substantial changes are needed.
Deposit - The act of putting a scholarly work into a repository.
Diamond/Platinum open access - A scholarly work is freely available because the journal has external sponsorship, so neither authors nor users have to pay for access.
Digital library - An online library collection of digital objects, including electronic books, articles, documents, multimedia, and various digital formats.
Discoverable - The ability to be found or capacity to locate, meaning something is easily findable and accessible.
Embargo - A designated timeframe following the publication of a scholarly work, during which access to the work is restricted. During this time, users may need to pay or have institutional access to view the content. This period allows publishers or authors to control initial access before broader availability.
Fee waiver - A discount or relinquishment of the cost to make a work open access, which reduces or eliminates an article publishing charge.
Gold open access - A scholarly work is freely available through a publisher's journal immediately upon publication, usually because an author or funder paid an APC.
Gratis open access - Information that is freely available with no monetary cost but might still have copyright and licensing restrictions.
Green open access - A scholarly work available through a publisher's journal with pay-to-access, but that allows the author to make the material freely available on the author's website or author-affiliated open access repository, usually after an embargo period. Also sometimes known as the "repository route."
Hybrid open access - When a journal publishes specific scholarly works as open access after authors pay a fee, while other works remain behind a paywall.
Institutional repository (IR) - A collection for organizing, storing, and disseminating digital copies of research created by a society, university, or other organization.
Libre open access - Information that is freely available with no monetary cost and does not have most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Metadata - Data that describes other data by offering information and attributions about the content being described. For example, a scholarly work in a repository is data. Suppose the repository has records describing the scholarly work's publication date, author, file type, etc. In that case, that descriptive information is metadata because it is data (information about the scholarly work) describing other data (the scholarly work itself).
Open access (OA) - When information is freely available for all people to read, use, copy, and distribute with limited copyright and licensing restrictions. Traditionally, open access refers to publications available online without a cost and with limited copyright and licensing restrictions on reuse but open access can pertain to the free exchange of any knowledge or resource.
Open access license - A permit granted by a publisher or other authority, enabling a scholarly work to be freely available online after its publication.
Open access mandate - A binding or non-binding policy adopted at an institution, government agency, or company that requires or suggests that affiliated members of the organization publish their scholarly works open access through various means such as self-archiving or publishing in green or gold open access journals.
Paywall - A virtual "wall" that blocks a user's ability to access certain material. In order to open the virtual "door" and pass through the virtual "wall," someone must pay a fee. Libraries and academic or research institutions typically pay this fee through a subscription-based model, so affiliated users can access materials behind paywalls. Through pay-per-use, individuals can also pay to access specific content independently, regardless of affiliation or without using a library.
Pre-prints - A draft of a scholarly work that has yet to go through the peer-review process but might have been submitted to a journal. If the work has been submitted to a journal, it is also referred to as the submitted version or submitted copy.
Post-prints - The final draft of a scholarly work after it has been peer-reviewed but before it has gone through copy-editing. This version of a work does not contain the publisher's typesetting, branding, or other enhancements. It is also referred to as the final accepted manuscript or personal copy.
Publisher's version - The version of a scholarly work that went through peer review and copy-editing and is in the format for publishing in a print or online journal.
Read and Publish Agreement - A Read and Publish agreement, also known as a transformative agreement, is an agreement between an institution and a publisher. Under the agreement, the institution pays the publisher an amount for access to its journals. In return, the publisher allows researchers from the institution to publish articles in those journals without any costs to the researchers, like article processing charges or open access fees.
Scholarly work - Materials created through formal research by an authority on a subject. This term can refer to digital or electronic papers, articles, books, data, and other materials resulting from academic scholarship.
Self-archiving - When an author deposits a free copy of their scholarly work online, typically on a personal homepage or institutional repository.
Subject repository - An archive that collects and stores scholarly research on a particular topic. An institution, government agency, or other organization, company, or individual might manage the repository.
Version of record - The final published version of a scholarly work, which undergoes copy editing and formatting before being published in a print or electronic journal. This version includes the publisher’s typesetting, branding, and other enhancements.