Open access refers to free, unrestricted online access to research outputs.
There are two main paths to open access:
Diamond or gold open access
- publishing in an open access journal which makes its contents freely and immediately available online
- Diamond open access:
- Journals which do not charge fees to either authors or readers
- Most (70%) of open access journals follow this model
- Gold open access:
- Journals which charge authors a fee – called an article processing charge (APC) – to publish
- Journals owned by major commercial publishers, such as Wiley, Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, etc., are most likely to levy expensive APCs
Green open access
- publishing in a subscription-based journal and then depositing a copy of your article in a subject or institutional repository, such as the Brock Digital Repository
- no article processing charges are required
Green open access is specified by the Brock University Open Access Policy:
“all Brock Scholars are expected to deposit an electronic copy of their academic journal articles in the Brock University Digital Repository by the date of publication.”
Open Access Support
Brock Digital Repository
An online open access archive showcasing and preserving the Brock community’s scholarly output.
Add your work to the repository:
- Self-submission instructions
- Support for sharing your work (assisted deposit) instructions
Funding for Open Access Publishing
The Library provides direct grants to help Brock researchers pay article processing charges and also invests in agreements with publishers to provide free/discounted publishing in open access journals.
Scholarly Journals at Brock
The Library supports several open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journals
Learn More
- Scholarly Communication and Open Access Guide – from Brock Library
- Open Access: Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
- Open Access: Canadian Association of Research Libraries
- Brock University Open Access Policy and FAQ
- Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications – FAQ