The advantage of this type of publishing is that readers do not pay a subscription fee and authors do not pay a publication fee. It’s simply free for both readers and authors. These types of journals are usually funded by academic institutions, professional societies, and to a lesser extent by the publishers themselves, etc. You can find an overview of diamond/platinum journals in the Directory of Open Access Journalsby checking the “Without fees” filter. Or check out the European Diamond Capacity Hub. Diamond/platinum open access is the ideal standard. Unfortunately, the ideal is never easily achieved. Although the number of diamond journals is growing (over 14,000), there are still not many that are highly regarded.

The Gold Road to Open Access. The published article is immediately, freely, and permanently available to anyone. The author bears the publication costs by paying an article processing charge (APC). Gold (sometimes also called full) OA journals are those that offer no other publication option besides Open Access. This distinguishes them from so-called hybrid journals.

In the vast majority of cases, such a publication within a publicly funded project is a recognized indicator, and the publication fee is a recognized expense (of course, subject to the budget rules of the specific project).

If you do not have project funding secured, you can obtain support from the Biology Centre to cover the APC:

1- You can use Open Access tokens. The BC has entered into so-called transformation agreements with several publishers. Thanks to these, you can obtain a token that will allow you to publish under the OA model completely FREE OF CHARGE. Of course, certain conditions must be met.

2- Apply for up to 50% support to cover the APC through the BC’s OA fund.

NOTE: For most publicly funded projects, publishing in a GOLD OA journal is not sufficient to meet Open Access requirements. At the same time, the author must ensure that the postprint (Author Accepted Manuscript) or the publisher’s version of the article (Version of Record) is archived in a trusted repository! You can find the exact conditions of the main funding agencies here: Mandatory Open Science Procedures.

The Green Road operates on the basis of so-called self-archiving. You publish your article in a subscription-based journal (meaning you do not pay publication fees) and fulfill the Open Access requirements by simultaneously making the postprint — the accepted manuscript after peer review (without the publisher’s layout) — publicly available via a repository.

IMPORTANT: When using the green road, you must respect the publication agreement. It is the publisher who determines the conditions for self-archiving. Some journals only allow the publication of the postprint after a time embargo has expired (most often 6–24 months)! However, even the shortest time embargo does not meet grant requirements. There are also a number of top subscription journals that allow self-archiving without an embargo specifically to meet grant requirements. In such cases, simply send the grant terms to the publisher. You can find the publisher’s self-archiving rules in the publication agreement, on the journal’s/publisher’s website, or in the Open Policy Finder registry Open policy finder (formerly SHERPA Romeo).

This is not Open Access in the strict sense of the term, but rather a classification of journal types. Hybrid Open Access journals are those that allow authors to choose whether they wish to publish their work traditionally via subscription or via Open Access. In the first case, the author does not pay an APC, but the article will not be freely available to everyone, only to journal subscribers. In the second case, the author/institution pays the APC, and the article becomes fully OA.

In situations where the author chooses the OA publishing option, the article is an eligible indicator. Sometimes, of course, it is also an eligible project cost. NOTE: THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO HORIZON EUROPE: Costs associated with publishing in hybrid journals are not eligible in HE projects!

If your costs for publishing under the OA model are not covered, but you still need to meet the grant’s requirement for Open Science practices (immediate OA without a time embargo), you have two options:

1- As with the gold route, BC has entered into so-called transformation agreements with several publishers. Thanks to these, you can obtain a token that will allow you to publish in OA mode completely FREE OF CHARGE. Of course, certain conditions must be met. You can read more about this option under Open Access tokens. However, support from the BC OA fund does not apply to hybrid journals!

PLEASE NOTE: For most publicly funded projects, publishing in a hybrid journal under an Open Access model is not sufficient to meet Open Access requirements. Authors must also ensure that the postprint (Author-Accepted Manuscript) or the publisher’s version of the article (Version of Record) is deposited in a trusted repository!

2- Publish through a traditional subscription model. In this case, you can meet Open Science requirements by depositing a “postprint”—that is, your manuscript after incorporating comments from the peer review process, but without the publisher’s graphics or layout—in a trusted repository. For example, in ASEP, the institutional repository of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

PLEASE NOTE: The specific options for publishing a postprint are determined by the publisher, who, as part of their open access policy, specifies which version of the article may be published and under what conditions! You can find the self-archiving terms in your contract with the publisher, on the journal’s or publisher’s website, or in the Open policy finder (formerly SHERPA Romeo).