LibGuides: eResources & Databases: Open Access

Open Access is a publishing and model for scholarly research that provides free online access to materials such as articles, books and datasets. It removes barriers like subscription or reading fees, although access may sometimes be delayed for a set period after initial publication. Open Access works alongside traditional publishing models, maintaining high standards through peer review and established editorial practices, while broadening the reach and availability of academic work.

Green Open Access

Green Open Access is the self-archiving of published or pre-publication research in an open access repository. With the publisher’s permission, authors can share a version of their work through an institutional repository like ATU Research @THEA. Green OA focuses on repository-based access.

Gold Open Access

Gold Open Access makes research articles freely available to everyone immediately upon publication, removing the need for subscriptions or payment and ensuring global access. The cost of accessing research articles via the Gold Open Access model is shifted to the author or institution, these costs are known as Article Processing Charges (APCs) They cover peer review, editing and publishing fees.

Diamond Open Access

refers to open access journals that are free for readers to access and for authors to publish in. Funding for these journals often is community driven and supported by institutions or by national or regional infrastructure.

Hybrid Open Access

a subscription journal which allows authors to make their papers OA at a typically higher price than dedicated Gold OA journals
Some still require a fee to pass a paywall to access

Samenwerkingsverband Hogeschoolbibliotheken (SHB) - CC BY SA

Open Access provides several advantages over traditional scholarly publication methods:

Greater Exposure.
Faster transmission.
Reduced cost
Higher citation counts for authors.
Eliminates inequalities in access to knowledge.
Gives the taxpayer access to tax-funded research.

Created by SPARC in conjunction with PLOS and the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), the HowOpenIsIt?

Open Access Guide standardizes Open Access terminology in an easily understandable, comprehensive resource.

Popular OA Directories

OpenDOAR

ATU Institutional Repository

Research@THEA is a shared open-access repository that was established in 2017. It was launched as a service for capturing, storing, preserving and showcasing the research output of all the Institutes of Technology in Ireland, whilst also providing a platform for their researchers/academic staff and students to publish and promote their work.

The Research@THEA repository is a free gateway to academic and qualitative research that can be accessed electronically at http://research.thea.ie/. Here, you can search the entire collections/research output of all the Institutes of Technology in a single search or alternatively you can opt to search the research from a single Institute using the Institute's individual site.

For more information on Research@THEA see:

Research@THEA
by ATU Library Last Updated Sep 16, 2025 211 views this year

Open Policy Finder (Formerly Sherpa Services)

Open Policy Finder is the trusted source on open access archiving and compliance information. It provides clear, accurate summaries of publisher policies for journals and books, and funder requirements for archiving and publication.

Use it to find publishers or journals that permit deposit of a final version of a paper in a repository, such as PubMed or in an institutional repository, such as Research@THEA.

The Open Access Directory (OAD) is a compendium of factual lists about open access (OA) to science and scholarship, maintained by the OA community at large.