Open access is about making research outputs freely accessible to all. It allows research to be disseminated quickly and widely, the research process to operate more efficiently, and increases use and understanding of research by business, government, charities and the wider public. (HEFCE)
There are two routes into Open Access - gold or green.
Gold Open Access is where the author makes their article Open Access in a journal, usually for a fee. This journal may be exclusively Open Access, or it may have a mixture of Open Access and subscription-only articles.
Green Open Access is where the author publishes in a journal and then deposits a version of this article into a subject or institutional repository such as BURO
Most research funders have policies which mandate outputs from research which they have funded to be made open access.
Researchers, as generators of research papers are expected to make any peer-reviewed research papers, which acknowledge Research Council funding, open access (effective since 1 April 2013).
See section UKRI and you
All projects receiving Horizon Europe funding have the obligation to ensure any peer-reviewed journal article they publish in is openly accessible, free of charge.
Open Research Europe is a scholarly publishing platform available to Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe beneficiaries. It comes at no cost to them, has a rigorous and open peer review process, and the open access model enables everyone to access the results.
Open Access makes your research available to far more people than a subscription-only journal article does. There is evidence that this can lead to an increase in citations of your work.
Open Access encourages public engagement with research, which is often paid for out of public money.
Your funding body may have a mandate which requires you to make your research available in an Open Access source. Bournemouth University has a publications policy that requires you to deposit a version of your work in the institutional repository, BURO.
2.1 Bournemouth University staff, students and those associated with the university such as visiting faculty producing research outputs - henceforth be referred to as ‘authors’are expected to record bibliographic details of all research outputs within the university’s research information system BRIAN and deposit outputs into its institutional repository (BURO), in accordance with this policy.