"Open Access" is the term used to describe free and unrestricted online access to scholarly research. This can include, but is not limited to:
- Journal articles
- Conference proceedings
- Book chapters
- Monographs
- Grey Literature
- Open educational resources
Open access publishing means that research reaches the widest possible audience, resulting in increased impact, citations and collaboration opportunities. This benefits the global research community by making outputs accessible to all and is a key reason why institutions and research funders often issue open access policies. At the University of Strathclyde, we encourage our academics to make as much of their research as possible open access, even if not required by a specific policy or funding body.
There are different routes available to make outputs open access. These are often referred to as:
- Green open access is where the author deposits the accepted version of an article in a subject or institutional repository.
- Diamond open access is where journals or similar platforms do not charge fees to either the author or reader.
- Gold open access is where authors or institutions pay a fee to publishers to make the final version of an article open to everyone.
The links below give more information about open access policies, funding available for gold open access, and the support we offer all Strathclyde authors to make their outputs open access: