Open access refers to free, unrestricted online access to content.  

There are two main paths to open access: 

• Publishing in an open access journal, which makes its contents freely and immediately available online. This is often referred to as gold open access, partly because some open access journals charge article processing fees to publish. 

• Publishing in a subscription-based journal and then depositing a copy of the article in a subject or institutional repository, such as the Brock Digital Repository. This is called green open access and does not involve any fees. 

While there are two paths to open access, the Brock Open Access Policy focuses exclusively on the deposit of articles in the Brock University Digital Repository (green open access).  The policy is silent on whether Brock scholars should publish in gold open access journals.  Most of the information below focuses on green open access.   

• Brock scholars are expected to deposit an electronic copy of their academic journal articles in the Brock Digital Repository by the date of publication.
• Articles may be embargoed within the repository upon deposit so that they are not publicly released until after time restrictions required by publishers.

• The Open Access Policy is intended to reflect the values of the University and set expectations for Brock scholars regarding open dissemination of articles they publish. Any Scholar who chooses not to submit an article to the Repository can still ensure compliance with the Policy by submitting an opt-out form (see below). If you choose not to submit an opt-out form, the University will not impose any sanctions or discipline, but will continue to educate all Brock Scholars about the value and importance of the open dissemination of their work.

• You may submit your articles yourself or you may ask for assistance from the Brock Library by using the Library’s assisted deposit service:
  • Self-submission instructions
  • Library assisted deposit: Support for sharing your work

• If you publish an article in an open access journal you are still expected by the policy to deposit a copy in the Brock Digital Repository. There are additional benefits to deposit in the Repository, such as the fact that the Repository is search engine optimized and helps ensure that your article is widely disseminated.

• As an article moves through stages of the publication process, it is generally referred to as a:
  • Pre-print — this is the author’s original manuscript which has been submitted to a journal. It has not been peer-reviewed, copy-edited, or formatted with page numbers or branded by the journal. It’s also called author’s manuscript, original manuscript, or first draft.
  • Post-print — an article which has undergone peer-review and been revised accordingly. Also known as the accepted author manuscript.
  • Publishers’ final version — an article which has been peer-reviewed, copy-edited, proofread, paginated and fully formatted for publication.
• Publishers may place restrictions on which version of an article you may deposit: some permit deposit of pre-prints, others post-prints, while some allow posting of final published articles after an embargo period such as 12 months.
• You can determine which version you are permitted by your publisher to deposit by checking the Sherpa Romeo or How Can I Share It.
• You may also choose to negotiate with a publisher to retain more rights to your work. The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), offers resources on author rights including an addendum you can submit with copyright agreements.

• The Brock Digital Repository facilitates embargo compliance to meet time periods required by publishers: you can deposit your article immediately, but it won’t be disseminated until the embargo date has passed.

• Check the SHERPA/RoMEO database or How Can I Share It website to determine journal/publisher deposit policies.
• Consult the website for a specific journal/publisher to find its policies for self-archiving

• Most journals allow for some form of deposit in an institutional repository.
• If you are unable to deposit an article due to publisher restrictions, you may still meet the requirements of the Brock University Open Access policy by using the Library’s opt-out form.

• The Brock Open Access Policy does not require you to negotiate rights with a publisher; however, there are tools available to assist you should you wish to negotiate authors’ rights with a publisher. Publishers generally require authors to transfer full copyright of their articles as part of the publication process.  This full transfer is not necessary; authors only need to allow publishers the one-time, “non-exclusive” right to publish the article.
• You may choose to negotiate with a publisher to retain more rights to share your work, including the right to deposit a copy of an article in a repository:
  • Model addendums to copyright agreements are available from:
    • The Canadian Association of Research Libraries – Canadian Author Addendum to Publication Agreement
      • Guide to using the addendum
    • SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition – SPARC Author Addendum
  • Model language is also offered by the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications:

 “[Journal] acknowledges that the researcher will be entitled to archive an electronic copy of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript for inclusion in (name of repository). Manuscripts archived with (name of repository) may be made freely available to the public, via the internet, within twelve months of the official date of final publication in the journal.”

Yes: you may email the revised version to digitalrepository@brocku.ca

• There is no evidence that publishers refuse to publish articles from scholars at institutions with open access policies.
• Many major research funders require grant recipients to make their research publications openly accessible, and this is often facilitated by publisher submission policies.

• Business models and publishing practices vary across different forms of scholarly outputs. The policy applies specifically to scholarly articles because they are a) central to the scholarly process; and b) they are not royalty-generating forms of scholarship.  The policy does not apply to textbooks and monographs since they commonly generate royalties.  While the policy applies to scholarly articles, submission of other forms of scholarship is strongly encouraged.

• The policy applies to co-authored articles where one or more authors is a Brock Scholar
• Joint authors are those who participate as authors in the preparation of the article and thus share ownership of copyright in the resulting work
•  Brock Scholars are advised to ensure the awareness and consent of their co-authors before depositing an article in the Brock Digital Repository

• The policy has no implications on what or where a scholar chooses to publish and therefore does not infringe on academic freedom.

• You will be providing what is called a “non-exclusive permission” to archive and disseminate an article through the Repository.
• Non-exclusive permission simply means that you provide Brock permission for the specific act of disseminating a particular article via the repository. As this permission is non-exclusive, you retain the ability to grant rights to your article to other third parties, such as publishers or academic societies.

• All scholars may choose not to deposit a particular article by completing an opt-out form, made available through the Brock University Library (see below). Completion of this form would count as compliance with the Open Access Policy.
• There are no institutional consequences for deciding not to deposit your articles in the repository

Making your scholarly articles openly accessible brings many benefits including:

• Higher citation rates
• Broader visibility and reach of your work
• Supporting in complying with research funders’ open access policies
• Enhancing your copyright over your own scholarly articles

There is steady growth in the number of academic institutions around the globe which have open access policies. Globally more than 900 institutions have open access policies; in Canada, there are 14 institutional open access policies.

Contents of the Brock Digital Repository are disseminated via:

• Google Scholar
• Omni, the Library’s discovery tool
• OAISTER, a global directory of digital resources
• CORE, a global directory of open access repositories

Academia.edu, ResearchGate and Mendeley are examples of academic social networks, which promote communication and collaboration between researchers. They are operated by commercial entities.   While such commercial sites may assist with dissemination of scholarly output, they are not designed as long-term preservation platforms.

The Brock Digital Repository is an institutional repository which collects, preserves and disseminates scholarly outputs from Brock researchers. Note that research funders, such as the Tri-Agencies, require deposit in a subject or institutional repository; you cannot comply with the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications by posting articles to an academic social network.

Please note: much of the content posted to academic social networking sites is in violation of publishers’ copyright restrictions and may be subject to legal takedown notices.

Canada’s three federal granting agencies require research funded by NSERC, SSHRC or CIHR to be made openly available online under its Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications. Grant recipients must ensure that any peer-reviewed journal articles resulting from their grant-funded research be made freely accessible within 12 months of publication by either:

• archiving the full-text, peer-reviewed post-print version or final published version in a repository such as the Brock Digital Repository;
• or, by publishing in an open access journal

The Brock University Open Access Policy aligns with the Tri-Agency open access policy by supporting researchers in making their work openly accessible via the Brock Digital Repository.

• The Library provides information and support regarding this policy and open access in general
• Please contact libhelp@brocku.ca