Models OA

All institutional repositories worldwide (and publishers in cases where an article is open access) use Creative Commons licenses, which allow the free dissemination of a work with mandatory attribution to the creator (author). Within Creative Commons licenses, the following restrictions may apply:

  • Prohibiting commercial use of the work

  • Prohibiting modifications or adaptations of the original work

The most restrictive license is usually referred to as CC BY NC ND (Creative Commons – Credit must be given to the creator – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted).

The Library recommends the Creative Commons license in Ruomoplus, and for the questions “Allow commercial uses of your work?” and “Allow modifications of your work?”, select No.

 

1. Golden Road (Gold Open Access)
This refers to the immediate publication of articles in open access journals. In the golden road model, articles are immediately available for free reading and downloading, without restrictions or payment. Publishers typically fund the process through Article Processing Charges (APC), which are paid by authors or the institutions funding the research.

Characteristics:

  • Immediate open access to the article upon publication

  • Free reading, downloading, and reuse of the content

  • Typically requires payment by authors or their institutions through publication fees

2. Green Road (Green Open Access)
This refers to self-archiving, where authors deposit their articles in institutional or subject-specific open access repositories. Articles may be published in traditional journals and then uploaded to open repositories, allowing free access.

Characteristics:

  • Self-archiving of research works in university repositories or other subject-specific repositories

  • Publication can occur either before peer review (preprint) or after peer review and acceptance (postprint)

  • Works remain accessible once deposited in the repository, even if the journal does not provide immediate open access

3. Hybrid Road
This strategy is a combined approach of the golden route and traditional publishing. In the hybrid model, journals that typically require a subscription also offer the option of open access for individual articles for an additional fee (e.g., authors can pay Article Processing Charges to make specific articles open access, while other articles remain behind the subscription paywall).

Characteristics:

  • Articles are published in journals that usually do not provide open access

  • Authors pay fees to make their articles openly accessible

4. Diamond Open Access (Diamond OA)
This is the most advanced and ideal form of Open Access. It is characterized by the release of scientific knowledge without financial barriers, meaning neither authors nor readers pay publication or access fees.

Characteristics:

  • Free publication & access: Researchers do not pay to publish, and readers do not pay to access content

  • Funding by institutions: Costs are covered by universities, research centers, government agencies, or other organizations

  • Non-commercial: Focuses on disseminating knowledge rather than generating profit

  • Immediate availability: Research works are available without embargo or time restrictions

5. Bronze Road
Refers to scientific articles that are freely accessible online without a subscription but without an official open-use license (e.g., Creative Commons).

Characteristics:

  • Articles can be read by anyone and are not behind a paywall

  • No official license for redistribution, reuse, or modification

  • Often involves articles temporarily made freely available by publishers (e.g., special issues, promotions, or during a pandemic)

6. Black Road
Characteristics:

  • Source of illegal articles: Unauthorized sharing of subscription-based articles via hashtags, social media pages, or sites like Sci-Hub

  • Sci-Hub: An illegal website created in 2011 by Alexandra Elbakyan, which stores articles obtained through library subscriptions

  • Illegal access to other universities’ resources: Includes sharing library credentials to access publisher websites and download articles

  • Publisher responses: Numerous lawsuits and large compensation claims against illegal sharing channels