Open Access refers to the practice of making peer-reviewed scholarly research and literature freely available online to anyone interested.

Open means anyone can freely access, use, modify, and share for any purpose, subject, at most, to requirements that preserve provenance and openness. It does not affect authors' freedom to choose where to publish or the right not to publish.

There are two major ways to make publications open access:

1. Self-archiving

Self archiving, which is depositing a publication in a repository and making it available, allows you to make a publication available in Open Access, regardless of the platform in which your publication originally has been published. When uploading a file to Biblio you can choose the access level of your publication. You can also set an embargo, if asked by the publisher.

Articles

Most journal publishers allow self archiving in repositories. However, conditions may apply on which version you can make available (e.g. the author’s final peer-reviewed manuscript, a version which is peer reviewed but does not show the publisher’s layout) and an embargo may be in place (usually 6 months for STEM and 12 months for SSH). Sherpa/Romeo, the database of publishers' policies on copyright and self archiving, can be used to determine the open access policy of journals and/or publishers.

Moreover, the Belgian law allows authors to make peer reviewed articles available in open access, in the final peer reviewed author manuscript and after an embargo periode. Check the details in the tip Open Access in Belgian legislation.

Books

Until recently, the focus was mainly directed to peer reviewed articles. However, more and more the focus shifts to books, among others due to the policy of research funders.

2. Publishing scholarly works in an Open Access Journal

Open Access journals provide direct open access upon publication. To find a qualitative open access journal, you can consult the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) to browse OA journals by subject. Some Open Access journals require authors to pay a fee: article processing charge (APC).

No matter where you choose to publish, always remember to upload your publications to Biblio.

You can find more information on Open Access on Open Access Belgium.

Policy UGent

As of January 1, 2023 Ghent University introduced the UGent policy on scholarly publishing, including Open Access requirements.  Among others, the mandate requires the deposit of a version of your journal article in Biblio that can be made open access in Biblio, with an option to opt-out.