The author can pay a fee (an Article Processing Charge/APC) to the publisher to make a publication Open Access. This is called Gold Open Access.

There is no central Open Access fund at AAU, so these expenses will have to be covered by external funding or your department (check this before submitting). 

A Hybrid Open Access journal has both open and paywalled content. You can choose to pay the journal to make an article Open Access or keep it behind a paywall.

We have several national Open Access agreements with some of the largest publishers. They each have a list of journals in which you as an AAU researcher can publish Open Access free of charge. The agreements can be found on the link above.

Another alternative is Diamond Open Access journals.  They are free for both author and reader. This can be done, because Diamond Open Access journals are often managed by research communities themselves. The final published version is immediately accessible and shareable.

 

If your publication is behind a paywall, i.e. only accessible to subscribers, you can often open it without paying for it.

Most publishers have a Green Open Access policy that allows you to parallel publish or self archive your work in an institutional repository like VBN - Aalborg University' Research Portal. Be aware that an embargo period may apply. 

You are often allowed to upload the accepted author manuscript/postprint of your work to VBN - Aalborg University's Research Portal. This is not the final, published version, but the one before it: It has been through peer-review, but not yet set up with layout, volume, issue, pages. The corresponding author will have received this edition either by email or through their publisher profile page.

Remember to check if your funding organization requires Open Access to your publications and if they accept an embargo period. 

If in doubt: upload accepted author manuscript and set access to Unknown. Then nothing will be displayed in VBN - Aalborg University's Research Portal until it is quality checked by the VBN Team.

Below are links to some of the major publisher's policies for self-archiving of accepted manuscripts in an institutional repository such as VBN - Aalborg University's Research Portal, as well as their embargo periods.

• ACM*
  No embargo period
• Cambridge University Press*
  0-6 months depending the journal
• DeGruyter
  Final published version can be self-archived after an embargo period of 12 months
• Elsevier
  6-36 months depending on the journal
• Emerald
  No embargo period
• IEEE
  24 months embargo unless there are other funding requirements
• Oxford University Press
  12-24 months depending on the journal
• Palgrave MacMillan
  12 months
• Sage
  No embargo period
• Springer*
  12 months for journal articles and articles in proceedings
• Taylor & Francis*
  0-18 months depending on the journal
• Wiley*
  12-24 months depending on the journal

*These publishers have agreements with Danish research institutions, providing lists of journals where you can publish Open Access for free. Please see link above.

Please be aware that the publisher may require that a set phrase be inserted on the accepted manuscripts. When you upload a document on a publication registration, a cover sheet is automatically added to the document with information about the publication (titel, author, journal, DOI link, document version etc.).

Use the Royal Danish Library's Journal Finder to find Open Access Journals: Gold, Diamond, or journals included in the national agreements: Aalborg University is part of the Danish national agreements where publishers provide Open Access to specific journals free of charge. Find more information and publisher links on this page. 

See a list of Aalborg University's own Diamond Open Access journals at journals.aau.dk or the national Diamond Open Access journals at tidsskrift.dk.

Find quality checked Gold and Diamond Open Access journals at the Directory of Open Access Journals, DOAJ.org

Check a journal's Open Access Policy using the Sherpa Romeo checker tool

If an article is marked Bronze or Free Open Access it is in the grey zone of Open Access publishing. This is an article made freely available by the publisher for a period of time, but unfortunately it does not count as permanent Open Access and is not shareable.

Even though others can access the publication temporarily, it would not count as an Open Access publication in VBN - Aalborg University's Research Portal.

Predatory journals are characterized by not meeting the standards of good research practice. They are established for the sole purpose of making money without offering the traditional services of academic publishers, such as a rigorous peer-review.

The term "predatory" refers to the journals’ aggressive marketing methods and ways of approaching individual researchers. They use praise, quote your earlier work, promise speedy review processes, etc. However, once you have signed the contract, it may prove difficult to withdraw your article.

Use the tool Think-Check-Submit before you choose the journal.

You can also check a journal's legitimacy at Cabell's Journalytics and Predatory Reports that is accessible through the University Library's website. The journals on the Journalytics list are legitimate, the ones in the Predatory reports are not.

Be aware of copyright: Do you retain the rights to your work or transfer them to the publisher?

Aalborg University’s Open Access policy recommends that you at the very least keep the right to parallel publishing of your publication.

You can ensure this by getting an addition to the publishing agreement. The Ministry of Higher Education and Science has drawn up a contract letter and an addendum to the publishing agreement that you can attach when you submit your documents to the publisher/journal.

How can your work be shared? Use a Creative Commons-license (CC-license) to describe what others (and you) can do with it. Creative Commons covers the area between full copyright (all rights reserved) and public domain (a total waiver of rights to the work).

Questions about copyright? Contact the Copyright Team at Aalborg University Library: copyright@aub.aau.dk 

1. Log in to Pure (the system supporting VBN - Aalborg University's Research Portal): www.vbn.aau.dk/admin
2. Click the big green button "+ Add content".
3. Select  "Research output". 
4. Go to "Add Electronic Version". Add DOI or link.
5. Gold and Diamond Open Access:
   Add PDF of the final, published version.
6. Green Open Access:
   Add PDF of the accepted author manuscript. Set embargo period, if any.

If in doubt: upload accepted author manuscript and set access to Unknown. Then nothing will be displayed in VBN - Aalborg University's Research Portal until it is quality checked by the VBN Team.