Guide to Open Access: Self-archiving (Green OA)

What is self-archiving?

Self-archiving, or parallel publishing, (Green OA) means depositing a version of a publication, according to the publisher’s permission, in a subject-specific or institutional open access repository.

Self-archiving is part of the publication data collection process at Turku UAS.

Turku UAS author, proceed as follows:

1. Discuss self-archiving at the beginning of the writing process with the other authors of the publication. Also make sure you have permission to self-archive any material subject to a third-party copyright, e.g. illustrations or graphics in your publication.
2. Submit the latest, publisher-approved manuscript version of your publication to be self-archived by email at julkaisutiedonkeruu@turkuamk.fi. You can submit your publication information for the reporting of the Ministry of Education and Culture at the same time.
   • NOTE: For Turku UAS publication series or Talk magazine, publication information and self-archived versions are sent to the library automatically, so you do not need to submit them.

Turku UAS library verifies and checks self-archiving policies for you, and deposits the publication version in Turku UAS open access repository Theseus, as well as adds a persistent URL to the self-archived version of the publication information in Research.fi, a national portal for collecting and sharing information on research conducted in Finland.

The self-archived version of the publication can be:

• So-called final draft version, or an AAM (author’s accepted manuscript), which is a peer-reviewed, final manuscript version of the publication before publishing, which has been edited by the author according to the reviewers’ comments. Often this version is missing the layout of the journal and page numbers, possibly also pictures and graphs.
• Publisher’s pdf, which is the equivalent of the final publication.

NOTE: Save any versions of your publication, because the Turku UAS library may request an unpublished version of your publication for self-archiving!

Permissions the author is responsible for

As an author, make sure you have permission to self-archive your publication before it is self-archived:

• You have agreed with all co-authors to self-archive the publication when you start planning to write the publication.
• Make sure permissions for materials under the copyright of a third party (e.g. illustrations, graphics, photos) also include self-archiving. NOTE: Permissions to use the material in the original publication do not automatically cover the self-archived version.
• The agreement to self-archive with co-authors can be informal, but preferably written down somewhere, for example in an email. Save the emails to have a written record of the agreement.

If needed, you can ask for an English language template for asking permissions by sending an email to julkaisutiedonkeruu@turkuamk.fi.
 

The library takes care of the publishers' permissions

Turku UAS library verifies and checks publishers' self-archiving policies and permissions for you. Some publishers may require the authors to ask for a permission from the publishers themselves.

Retain rights to self-archive in the publishing agreement

When signing a publishing agreement, make sure that you keep the right to self-archive your article in the Turku UAS OA repository. The publishing agreement should allow either immediate open access subject to an APC charge, or self-archiving, either immediately or after an embargo period. For articles written in a project, remember to check the funding agreement for requirements on open access publishing before signing a publishing agreement.

If an author has signed a publishing agreement that transfers all rights to the publisher, self-archiving may be forbidden.

In most cases, you can check the publishers' and journals' copyright and self-archiving policies in the SHERPA/RoMEO service.

What are the benefits of self-archiving?

Self-archiving (Green OA), or parallel publishing, is a type of open access publishing that has lots of benefits:

• You can easily share the persistent URL of the self-archived version of your publication in e.g. your own website, to your students or on social networking platforms, such as ResearchGate.
• Self-archiving ensures permanent accessibility and findability of your publications.
• Self-archiving is free of charge and relatively easy to do for the author.
• The author retains copyright in self-archiving, it is not transferred to the repository!

Often publishers may require that the self-archived version is openly accessible only after an embargo period. The embargo period starts from the publication date (either electronic or printed publication) depending on which date is earlier. Embargo periods range between 6-36 months.

Open access publications in categories A-E (in the reporting to the Ministry of Education and Culture) receive a weighted coefficient of 1.2 (fully open or self-archived) in the funding model of universities of applied sciences. Paywalled publications receive a coefficient of 1. More information on the benefits of open access.

Read more in Talk magazine (in Finnish), Julkaisuja vapaasti saataville verkkoon – lisää vaikuttavuutta rinnakkaistallentamisella by Liisa Tiittanen.

What is an affiliation?

In scholarly publications, an affiliation is mentioned together with the author’s name. Affiliation refers to the author’s home organisation, higher education institution, or research institution, where the author was employed/studied at the time the publication was created.

It is important the articles you publish contain your name and affiliation Turku University of Applied Sciences or Turun ammattikorkeakoulu, because:

• The affliation ensures Turku UAS gets the publication points in the Ministry of Education and Culture's yearly collection of publication information.
• Self-archiving is easier when the publication has clear information that it has been created as part of your work at Turku UAS.

NOTE: An affiliation can include more than one organisation. For example, if your employer is Turku UAS and you participate in a project coordinated by another organisation, both organisations can be listed as your affiliations in the publication.

About the guide

This guide has Turku UAS's instructions on open access. Among others, the following themes are covered:

• What does open access (OA) mean?
• How to publish open access?
• What are the Turku UAS recommendations on OA publishing?
• How do I report my publications for the Ministry of Education and Culture's data collection, and self-archive them?
• How can we promote the visibility and findability of research and publications?

Contact us

Contact our experts on collecting data on publications by email julkaisutiedonkeruu@turkuamk.fi

Contact our experts on open access publishing by email openscience@turkuamk.fi.

We are happy to help!

Turku UAS self-archived publications

Terminology

Author’s draft / Pre-print / Pre-refereeing / Submitted Version Under Review (SMUR)
A version submitted to the publisher before peer review. Does not necessarily correspond to the final version in terms of content.

Final draft / Post-print / Post-refereeing / Author’s final / Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM)
A peer-reviewed and accepted final version of the manuscript, usually without the publisher’s layout and page numbers, and sometimes also illustrations and graphs. In terms of content, same as the published version. Publishers often allow the self-archiving of this version.

Publisher PDF / Publisher’s version / Final published version / Version of record (VoR)
The final version of the publication, including layout, as it appears in the publication. Often in PDF format.

Tools

• SHERPA/RoMEO - Search service that contains self-archiving policies for major publishers and journals.
• SHERPA/JULIET - Research funder policies on open access publishing and self-archiving.