Open access
How to publish as open as possible
Lund University is committed to making open access the norm. Through the university’s open access policy, researchers are encouraged to make their publications as widely available as possible. Here, you’ll find an overview of why open access matters, how you can publish openly, and what to keep in mind along the way.
Open access (OA) is a publishing model in which scholarly articles and publications are freely available online. This means that anyone can read and use research without cost. More open access makes it easier to share knowledge and increase the impact of research. Today, OA is supported by universities, research funders, organizations, and publishers around the world.
There are different ways to publish open access:
- Fully open access journals (OA): All articles are free to read, and publishing costs are covered through means other than subscriptions.
- Hybrid journals: Subscription-based journals where some articles are made openly available.
Lund University supports publishing in both types. This can be done through several agreements with publishers or by central funding for articles in fully open access journals outside the agreements.
Lund University’s Open Access Policy
Lund University’s open access policy for publications and artistic works aims to make open access to research the standard. The policy supports the university’s goal of making research outputs openly available, helping to increase the visibility, use, and impact of its research.
Read Lund University open access policy for publications and artistic works in full (PDF, new tab)
Requirements from research funders
An increasing number of research funders require that publicly funded research be made freely available. Clear guidelines are often provided on how and when research should be published openly. If needed, publication fees can be covered by the funder, usually by including them as part of the project budget in the grant application.
Search among the policies of research funding agencies regarding OA using Policy finder
Publication fees covered by Swedish research funders
The Swedish research funders the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), Forte, Formas, and Vinnova have jointly decided to fund publishing in fully open access journals. This means that researchers affiliated with organizations participating in the Bibsam Consortium – including Lund University – can publish in these journals without having to pay any publication fees themselves, nor does the university need to cover the cost. The decision applies to articles accepted for publication after January 1st 2024.
Journals and publishers covered by this initiative:
- Copernicus
- eLife
- Frontiers
- JMIR
- MDPI
- MJS Publishing
- Pensoft Publishing
- PLOS
You can publish open access in these journals free of charge, there will be no invoices to researchers or the university
Plan S
Plan S is an initiative to promote open access publishing of scientific publications. Behind this is "cOAlition S", a consortium of mainly European research funders. The goal of Plan S is to publish results from research conducted with grants from public research funding agencies with immediate open access. From Sweden, Formas, Forte, and Vinnova are members of Coalition S.
Read more about Plan S on Coalition S's website
A digital tool can help you check if a journal is compliant with the requirements of Plan S.
Search for journals with the Journal checker tool
Ways to publish open access: gold, hybrid and green
Publications can be made open access in different ways:
By publishing in a journal where all articles are openly available, the entire journal is free and open to everyone. In most cases, paid for by a so-called Article Processing Charge (APC), and for books, a Book Processing Charge (BPC).
A hybrid open access journal is a subscription journal in which some of the articles are open access for a fee. The article is also available in the publisher's subscription journal.
The model offers the possibility for researchers to publish in traditional journals while meeting the requirements set by funders. It is, however, controversial. The most common objections are that the costs for publishing in hybrid journals are on average twice as high as those of established OA journals, regardless of the journal’s prestige. The freely available articles “disappear” among the large majority of articles in a journal that require a subscription. It is unclear how publishers can deal with the transition from increasing revenues from hybrid publications to reduced subscription prices in a transparent way.
Through publishing agreements, researchers at Lund University can take advantage of discounts and free or subsidized author fees for publishing with open access in hybrid journals. Some of the agreements also include pure OA journals.
Search for journals included in current publishing agreements
Self-archiving, also called green open access, provides free access to a published or accepted research publication. A version of an article is made publicly available through an institutional archive or a research information system such as LUCRIS, even if the final version is behind a paywall. There may be restrictions on making a version available, such as which version to use or that it must take place with a delay, a so-called embargo period.
To find out what applies to your article, you can search for the journal in Sherpa Romeo's database. It contains information about the conditions for many journals and publishers.
Choosing a Publication Channel
The channel you choose for publishing your research depends on several factors, such as your subject area, available funding, and funder requirements. The easiest way to publish openly is to select a journal or publisher that is fully open access.
A helpful resource is the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – the largest database of peer-reviewed, quality-checked open access journals.
Search for open access journals in DOAJ
Find a publisher that publishes open access books through the Open Access Directory
Dubious publishers and journals
Most journals and publishers operate responsibly, but some exploit the open access funding model in a questionable way. As a researcher, it can be difficult to know which ones are trustworthy.
Want to check if a journal or publisher is reputable? Learn more on our page via the link below, or contact your faculty library or the University Library for guidance and support.
Read more about what to consider when choosing your publishing channel
Publication fees (APC/BPC)
Most journals, publishers, and other outlets offer their authors some form of open access publishing. This is often funded through article processing charges (APCs) or book processing charges (BPCs).
At Lund University, publisher agreements can help reduce costs and simplify the administrative process for open access publishing. If a journal is not covered by an agreement, additional funds are available to apply for to cover the fees, including for open access books.
Costs of publishing open access at Lund University
When publishing open access, the entire amount for the APC or BPC is initially paid by the University Library. Parts of the cost of publishing (within the agreements, those paid with the extra publishing support or the Book fund) are later invoiced to the faculties. Depending on how your faculty choose to handle the costs, you may have to pay a part of the publication fee later on.
The allocation model for Lund University's publishing costs was decided by the vice-chancellor in 2022.
Through negotiated publishing agreements, researchers at Lund University can publish open access in hybrid and open access journals at favorable terms. Some publishers give a discount on APC.
Read more about all the publishing agreements and discounts
Use our search service to find out if a journal is included in any agreement.
Search for journals included in current publishing agreements
Researchers at Lund University can apply for funding of the APC in pure open access journals that are not included in any of the publishing agreements.
Read more and apply for financial support for publication fees
Authors can apply for funding for publishing books open access (monographs or anthologies).
Read about and apply for funding for publishing books open access
Copyright, licensing and distribution
Copyright
An author will always have the copyright to the own text, i.e., the moral rights and the economic rights. The moral rights are non-negotiable, but the economic rights can be sold or transferred to, for example, a publisher or a scientific journal. Add a Creative Commons license (CC license) to specify how a publication can be used for copying, sharing, and reuse.
Read more about copyright and how you can share and disseminate your research
CC licenses
Open access can mean different degrees of openness that affect what the end-user may do with the publication. The basic level means that you can read the publication, free of charge, on the web. A Creative Commons license (CC license) states how to use the material for copying, sharing, and reuse. The use of CC licenses is standard in open access publishing.
Journals and publishers have different policies regarding copyright and self-archiving. In the Policy Finder database, you can find out the specific conditions that apply to different journals. You can also read the policies on the journals’ or publishers’ websites.
Contact
For questions about the publishing process, bibliometrics, research data, open access, please contact your faculty library or
publicera [at] lub [dot] lu [dot] se
For questions about LUCRIS, please contact:
servicedesk [at] lu [dot] se
Publishing agreements and discounts
Current publishing agreements for open access publishing.
Financial support for publishing in open access journals
Apply for funding to publish in open access journals not included in an agreement.
