How Can I Publish in Open Access?

To gain knowledge about how to publish articles in Open Access please consult the diagram below by Matthias & Tennant (2018)

Open Access journals make the publisher's version of the manuscript publicly available. In the case of Gold OA journals, authors pay article processing charges (APCs); in the case of Diamond/Platinum OA journals, authors can publish free of charge. A good starting point for finding suitable journals (Gold and Platinum) is the Directory of Open Access Journals.

If the publication costs something, you can find an overview on financing options at the University of Zurich here. Papago can also be an entry point. Occasionally, institutes can finance the publication for their researchers.

When publishing in a traditional journal, most authors hand over their copyrights to the publisher. If you would also like to make your manuscript available to the public free of charge, you can do so via the green route. The UZH offers its researchers an institutional repository (ZORA) for this purpose. Without copyright to their article, they have to clarify if and under which conditions the publisher allows the green route. TheOpen Policy Finder provides information about the publishing conditions. 

If the accepted manuscript version can not be published after peer-review, the preprint (manuscript version before peer review) would be the next best choice. Note that in certain disciplines, it is customary anyways to publish the preprint.

A final option is UZH's contracts and memberships with publishers. Some allow researchers of the university to publish Open Access free of charge.

If you are unsure, please feel free to contact us: The Open Science Service Team of the University Library is happy to help. You may find further information on the corresponding web page of the UB.

The SNSF requires its researchers to publish their publications in Open Access. The content of the published manuscript must be identical to that of the publisher's version. The SNSF requirements are therefore met if researchers make the publisher's version freely available in Gold or Platinum OA journals, or a hybrid journal, or if they publish the accepted manuscript via the green route. Publishing the preprint does not satisfy SNF requirements.

The SNF pays APCs for Gold OA (in addition to project funds), but not for the publication in hybrid journals.