Most funders now require you to publish your article Open Access. But even if your funder currently doesn't, you should consider it.

You can publish your work openly in an Open journal or a hybrid journal. The best route depends on your funder, the audience and the publishers of your research. 

You also need to archive a copy of your work in the Kent Academic Repository (KAR).

Green, Gold, Diamond, Black Open Access – what does it all mean?

You must upload your author accepted manuscript to KAR within 3 months of acceptance. Kent's Open Access policy (pdf) requires you to do this.

The Library will do this for you. Use the REF Assisted Deposit Service to send us your manuscript.    

This will ensure that your article meets the requirements for the REF and other funder requirements.

You usually need to use an embargo, which means your work won't be Open Access until a set period of time has passed.

Sherpa Romeo is a useful tool to find out what your publisher will allow you to do with your journal article.   

This route of publishing is referred to as Green Open Access.

Open journals make all their articles available Open Access. There are no subscription charges and no paywalls, so anyone can read and use the articles.

Publishing in an Open journal means:

• your article will be available immediately, without an embargo
• your publication will be eligible for the REF
• you keep the copyright over your work and make use of a Creative Commons licence
• you're usually allowed to use the Version of Record (publisher’s pdf) on KAR and on websites.

Some Open journals are funded by the payment of a charge to publish an article. This is called an Article Processing Charge (APC); they don't make money through subscriptions (an example is the Public Library of Science). These types of journals are often referred to as Gold Open Access journals or pure Gold titles.

Some Open journals provide Open Access free of charge and do not charge subscriptions or APCs. These types of journals can be referred to as Diamond or Platinum journals. The University hosts several of these Open Access journals.

Directory of Open Access journals

Good quality peer-reviewed Open journals are listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Hybrid journals don't make all their articles available Open Access. They combine subscription access with Open Access. They have subscription charges and paywalls, which means that only users who have a subscription, or who are members of a university where the library has paid the subscription, can read and use the articles. 

Alongside this subscription access, individual articles in a hybrid journal are made available Open Access through the payment of an Article Processing Charge.

You can make your article Open Access in a hybrid journal by:

• using APCs made available to you by the Read and Publish agreements paid for by the Library 
  
• applying for APC funding for journals where the Library does not have an agreement
• paying for an APC using project funding or another independent means.

Use these tools to choose a quality, trusted Open Access journal or publisher.

Need research support or advice? Email researchsupport@kent.ac.uk

Find out all the ways you can get in touch.