Open Access refers to online, unpaywalled access to peer-reviewed research outputs with limited copyright and licensing restrictions.

Adapted from Fosteropenscience.eu. (2020). Open Access | FOSTER. [online] Available at: https://www.fosteropenscience.eu/taxonomy/term/5(opens in a new tab) 

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

The cost to make an article fully OA is called an Article Processing Charge (APCs). They can range from as low as €100 to €12,000, depending on the publisher and the journal in question.

Transformative Agreements

Transformative Agreements (TAs) are agreements between libraries (and/or their consortia) and publishers that transforms the traditional subscription model – which only provides read access – to a Read and Publish model – which provides read access AND the ability for authors from subscribing institutions to make their publications fully Open Access at no cost to the author.

MTU has access to local TAs (brokered by MTU Library) and national Tas (brokered by IReL, the Irish Research e-Library).

Journal Types

Academic journals have traditionally operated via a subscription model i.e., only those with access to a subscription could read or download the content of the journal. For everyone else, the journal’s content sits behind a paywall.

APCs are available in two different types of journals

Fully OA journals (also referred to as Gold Journals): The only way to publish with these journals is by paying an APC

Hybrid Journals: Subscription journals that offer the option to pay an APC to publish your research via Open Access.

Publishers that MTU has a Transformative Agreement With