The revised Open Access Policy – what do I need to know? 

You may have heard that the University's Open Access Policy was recently updated. It is important for all researchers at the University to understand their responsibilities around making their research outputs open.

So, here is a quick overview of the major changes:

Types of Open Access 

Two of the most common Open Access (OA) options available are green and gold. 

Green OA refers to the practice of authors self-archiving their research outputs in online repositories. For journal articles this is usually the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM), the final peer-reviewed and edited version before it has been typeset and formatted for publication. Green OA allows free access to the research output, often after an embargo period. Gold OA provides free access to journal articles for all readers immediately upon publication. Authors or institutions usually cover publication costs, ensuring widespread availability to articles without subscription fees. 

In the updated Open Access Policy publishing via either the Green or Gold options are equally acceptable.  

Where to deposit? 

Under the previous version of the Policy, outputs could be deposited in either the University's Institutional Repository, Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S), or another subject-based repository. The updated policy now mandates deposit in AR&S. ​Advice on depositing research outputs can be found in the Adelaide Research & Scholarship: Repository Submission Guidelines. 

When to deposit? 

Previously the Open Access Policy stated that metadata should be deposited in AR&S, via Aurora, immediately upon publication. The Policy now allows this to be completed within 3 months.  By metadata we mean information about your research output, things like the title of your article, details of the journal it was published in, year of publication etc. 

Grand funder requirements 

This revision is in response to changes in OA publishing patterns and opportunities, and designed to align more closely with the OA policies of major research funders such as the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The research funder OA policies take precedence over the university’s OA policy. For example, NHMRC grant funded research now requires no embargo on publishing research outputs.  

Publisher embargoes 

When it comes to adding your AAM to Adelaide Research & Scholarship, a publisher may place an embargo on when you can make it available. The Open Access Policy requires you make every effort to avoid accepting an embargo of more than 12 months. 

Mandatory and optional research outputs 

In the updated Policy, the list of mandated research output types has been extended. ​Outputs which must be deposited in Adelaide Research & Scholarship are:  

• peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers 

• books and book chapters 

• HDR theses (via the Adelaide Graduate Research School) 

• non-traditional research outputs such as creative works and research reports  

All other outputs are recommended to be deposited, rather than mandated. This includes non-peer reviewed research outputs such as conference contributions, software or computer code.  

Want to know more? Register for our 30-minute webinar about the updated policy at 10:00 am, Thursday 26 October 2023. If you cannot make it to our webinar, you can still register to receive the recording or you can contact your liaison librarian and book an appointment.