Open Access
Definition: Open Access means free access to academic literature. “Free” in this context means that there are no technical or legal barriers, access is free of charge and reuse is unrestricted.
Open Access is beneficial not only for the users of academic literature, but also for the authors themselves.
© Source: based on Brinken, H. (2021). 10 Gründe für Open Access. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4643859 (CC BY 4.0 International)
Gold and green routes to Open Access
When implementing Open Access, a distinction is made between the gold and the green path.
Open Access gold
Gold publications are those that appear for the first time directly as an Open Access publication. This is usually done via Open Access channels such as an Open Access journal.
© Source: based on Oberländer, A. (2020). Open Access – Es ist nicht alles Gold, was glänzt. In: Open Science. Von Daten zu Publikationen. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4018594 (CC BY 4.0 International)
Green Open Access
The green path refers to secondary publication on an Open Access repository of publications that have already been published in closed access by a publisher. In this case, the relevant contractual conditions and the respective embargo periods of the publishers must be observed. Further information can be found under Secondary publication via the university repository.
© Source: based on Oberländer, A. (2020). Open Access – Es ist nicht alles Gold, was glänzt. In: Open Science. Von Daten zu Publikationen. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4018594 (CC BY 4.0 International)
