Open Access Publishing

1. Gold Open Access: Research output published via a publisher (the golden route) is freely and immediately available on the publisher’s website to the reader. When publishing Open Access in a journal your publication will immediately be freely accessible in the final publisher version. Most Open Access journals ask for compensation for publishing your article Open Access, also known as Article Processing Costs (APCs)
2. Diamond journals are a special branch of Gold OA. Diamond journals are different in that they do not charge APCs to the authors. Diamond journals are usually funded via library subsidy models, institutions or societies. You can browse the Directory of Open Access Journals to find a suitable non-APC OA journal for your output.
3. Green open access: When you publish an article in a subscription journal, readers have to subscribe or pay a fee to access the publication. Green Open Access means that the authors make a version of their published article (or book chapter) available via an OA repository.

Why would I publish Open Access?

• Enhanced visibility and discoverability of research results
• Easier (re-)usability of research results
• Increased citation score
• Faster dissemination and broader application of new ideas and discoveries

Can I publish OA without paying fees?

The University Library has already covered the publication fees for most journals of renowned publishers in so-called Publisher Deals. UM and MUMC researchers can publish Open Access with these journals free of charge (discount available).

In case you are looking to publish in a journal which is not covered by the Publishers Deal, SHE researchers should cover any Open Access costs through their research budget.
Please note that only UM and MUMC+ corresponding authors can claim the APC discount offered by a publisher deal. For some deals, it is essential to use your UM or MUMC+ email address in your correspondence with the publisher for identification. In addition, authors must mention UM or MUMC+ as their affiliate in the article to qualify for a discount.
Before finding out about the requirements and workflows of publishers, look up selected titles in the OA Journal Browser to find out the APC discounts available to you.

Which CC license should I use?

When you publish your article Open Access (OA), you (the authors) retain the copyright. You need to assign a Creative Commons (CC) license to the work, telling readers and users what you (the owner) allow them to do with your article without first consulting you and asking for permission.

The default CC license is CC-BY: use and reuse (one must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes to the original work were made). Additions like -NC or -ND allow you to add restrictions (limiting reuse options). Still, the publication will also become ‘less Open Science’, and if your research has an external public funder (e.g. NWO), no further restrictions are allowed.

There are three considerations when choosing the license for your work:

1. What is required by the research funder (if applicable, usually CC-BY) – this is contractually determined
2. What is offered by the publisher of the journal: usually, two or three CC-variations
3. What do you/authors want for the work: how open do you want to be?

We advise (if there is no CC-BY obligation from the financier) to choose CC-BY for publications as much as possible and only choose additional restrictions if necessary.

Further information can be found here:
- https://library.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/sharing-output/
- OA Journal Browser 

Roadmap for Open Access Publishing

From UB Checklist “Open Access Pulishing” (version October 2022):
https://library.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/sharing-output/open-access-guide/oa-publishing-checklist/

At project proposal

• Check funder for an OA policy or directive
• Check if and how to comply with your research funding body’s OA policy or directive.
• Check the funder budget for Article Processing Charges (APCs)
• Check if you can include a budget for Article Processing Charges (APCs) in the proposal.
• Check funder arrangements with publishers or repositories
• Check if the research funding body has made arrangements with publishers or repositories for research output.

During writing/submission of a manuscript

Make Open Access a selection criterium
Make Open Access publishing one of the relevant selection criteria when selecting the best journal for your article. See Select the right journal for your paper.

Check our APC discount
Check the journal of your choice in our Open Access Journal Browser and find out if we have an APC discount deal. We have APC deals with many publishers who often give 100% discount on the APC to submitting/corresponding authors of our institution. See Open Access Journal Browser.

Check terms and workflows
Check the information on the publisher’s terms and workflows that may apply. See Open Access publishing deals.

Use the correct email address
Ensure the submitting/corresponding author has an affiliation with UM or MUMC+. When communicating with the publisher, always use your UM or MUMC affiliation email address.

Need a waiver or voucher?
In some cases, you need to apply for a waiver code or voucher for submission. See the details listed for the different publishers. Please get in touch with us in these cases.

Need help?
If in doubt, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

At submission for publication

Use the correct email address
When communicating with the publisher, always use your UM or MUMC+ email affiliation email address.

Opt for Open Access
Indicate during submission that you wish to publish Open Access or provide your waiver code.

Select Creative Commons (CC) license
Select the appropriate Creative Commons (CC) license. Selection is based on the funder’s requirements, options offered by the publisher and your personal/group publishing strategy. The selected CC version tells a reader/user how to (re)use your publication without asking your permission first. In general, the standard CC-BY license is preferable from an Open Access point of view, and some research funders require this option.

More about CC-BY licenses: Open Access publishing and copyright. A more extensive overview: Guide to Creative Commons for Scholarly Publications and Educational Resources.

APC Discounts
All of our deals with publishers include a discount on the APC. The publisher will apply the right to a discount during the publication process, and the final amount must show this discount (like a shopping cart). If an unexpected final amount remains, something may have gone wrong, and you need to contact the publisher. Approving a final amount means that the submitting author (you) receives an invoice and must settle it via the research budget.

Maastricht University has no central budget to declare APC invoices.

After publication

In the unfortunate case that you could not publish Open Access through the golden route described in steps 1-3, Green Open Access and You share, we take care [Taverne] offer a fail-safe solution.

Share the allowed version of your article
Check the Open Access Journal Browser (or SHERPA/RoMEO); what version of your article (e.g. submitted, accepted or published) is free to be made publicly available and when.

Green OA: deposit your accepted version
Upload the best version allowed of your article in a reliable and sustainable repository like Maastricht University Research Publications (Pure). This version will become available to everyone without access to the paywalled version on the publisher’s website.

Taverne: share the publisher’s version
Make sure to participate in “You share, We take care“, so we can make the published version of paywalled publications you register in Pure findable and accessible to the world. It only takes one minute to fill in the consent form via UM Intranet.