Green Open Access is based on self-archiving: the author publishes his/her article in a subscription-based journal and puts the version of the article that the publisher allows to be published into the open repository.
Open access to scientific publications is provided by the author. When depositing an article in a repository, the author respects the terms of the journal's self-archiving.
The auto-archiving policy mainly specifies what can be archived (what version of the article the author is allowed to make available) and where and when the article can be published.
1. What you can auto-archive
The publisher may determine which version of the article the author is allowed to make openly available. For scientific articles, the following three types of versions are distinguished:
- preprint (submitted version) = the version of the article that the author sends to the journal, BEFORE the review process;
- postprint (accepted version) = version of the article that has been accepted for publication, AFTER the peer review process, the comments and modifications from the peer review process have been incorporated, but this version is not yet formatted by the publisher;
- published version = the article as it appeared in the journal - with pagination, journal design, publisher's header/footer, DOI assigned.
2. Where you can auto-archive
The publisher can specify the type of repository in which the article can be auto-archived:
- institutional = repository of a specific organization, e.g. Digital Library of the University of Pardubice;
- subject repository = a repository focused on a specific field or area, e.g. arXiv.org;
- multidisciplinary (orphaned) = a repository with no limitation of discipline or affiliation to a specific organisation, e.g. Zenodo.
3. Embargo
The publisher may impose a time embargo on publication. In such a case, the article may be deposited in the repository, but it won't be open until after the embargo expires. For example, the publisher Elsevier allows authors to publish a postprint version after an embargo period of 12-48 months.
Where you can find out the journal's auto-archiving terms:
- Licence Agreement or Copyright Transfer Agreeement (check contract with the publisher);
- the journal/publisher's website;
- SHERPA/RoMEO database.
Authors at the University of Pardubice are obliged to attach the full text of the paper in the form of a postprint (accepted version, accepted manuscript) to the OBD record for results of type J (journal article) and D (proceedings). The full text will then be published in the UPCE Digital Library according to the publisher's rules.
