Open Access Week: Green OA

Here is a recap of the take-aways from my first two Open Access Week posts:

1. Hybrid OA
- Pros: Offers authors the twofold benefit of continuing to publish in their journal of choice and having open access provided to their research articles immediately. And because these traditional, subscription-based journals are generally well-established and have achieved a certain reputation, they are viewed as having greater prestige and offering higher visibility to authors.
- Cons: Typically, the APCs for hybrid OA journals are significantly higher than those levied by pure OA journals. As a result, some funders/employers do not cover hybrid OA publication fees. Most of the larger hybrid journal publishers also do not offer fee waivers or developing country rates (Oxford University Press is the exception).

2. Gold OA
- Pros: Like hybrid OA, gold OA journals also provide immediate open access to their articles. A majority of those listed in the DOAJ do not require the payment of APCs. There is a wide range of titles to choose from, and most academic disciplines are represented.
- Cons: The most active and well-known gold OA journals do charge APCs, although most also offer fee waivers. Titles can be variable in quality, however, there are many excellent gold OA journals. And as discussed in yesterday's post, there are resources to help authors make informed decisions about which journals to publish in.

Despite the pros, these two routes to OA may still not be appropriate for some researchers. Fee waivers don't apply to everybody, and not every researcher necessarily gets funding to cover the cost of APCs. Researchers may not be affiliated with a well-resourced institution or with any institution at all. Or the need to publish in certain journals may override other considerations.

3. Green OA
Fortunately, there is yet other option for providing open access to one's research! The green OA option! This involves the deposit of an eprint (pre- or post-print) version of a journal article in some kind of repository, either one that is affiliated with an author's institution or a subject repository. Some authors choose to post eprints on academic social networks like ResearchGate and Academia.edu, or on their own personal web sites.

The advantage with the green route is that, as with hybrid OA, researchers can publish in the journal of their choice, yet still make a version of their article available to the wider public, at no cost to either the author or reader.

- When to deposit: The downside is that while most journal publishers allow for the depositing of eprints, they have placed a number of restrictions on when and where this can be done. For example, they impose embargoes, or delays, on the self-archiving of post-prints. A post-print is the version of a manuscript that has been peer-reviewed and therefore is most similar to the final text. The embargo periods can range from six to 24 months for post-prints of journal articles in the humanities and social sciences. Some funders stipulate that their authors make journal articles open access immediately or after only a short delay. This in turn may mean that the green route is not an option for some authors.

The good news is that a number of journals relevant to the forced migration field have no time restrictions for posting a postprint to an author's personal web site. This includes International Journal of Refugee Law, International Migration Review, Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Journal of Refugee Studies, Migration Studies, and Refugee Survey Quarterly. Two other titles - International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care and International Review of the Red Cross - allow post-prints to be deposited anywhere immediately.

- Where to deposit: This question also requires consideration. Archiving in a repository of some kind is considered ideal, because it ensures persistent access over time. Personal web sites are usually more ephemeral and therefore are not the best vehicles for the long-term preservation of authors' research. The best resource to use for identifying repositories - both institutional and subject-based - is OpenDOAR. Visitors can search or browse for repositories by region. While most are based in North America and Europe, there are also quite a few in Asia and South America, and a healthy number in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

What if your institution does not have a repository or you are not affiliated with an institution? Try a subject or disciplinary repository; these are generally open to all authors. For example, I regularly find relevant forced migration-related research in the Social Science Research Network, PubMed, and RePEc.

Alternatively, many authors choose to post papers on academic social networks, like ResearchGate and Academia.edu. However, journal publishers have tightened up their policies regarding the sharing of eprints via these networks a) because they are commercial entities, and b) because many publisher PDFs end up being shared instead of eprints!

A final option is to post eprints on a personal website. While that may seem to be a daunting task, it is pretty straightforward and can be done at no cost.  I should know: I launched this blog 10+ years ago, and I do not have any technical skills whatsoever! Here's a guide that can walk you through the process.

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.