The global Open Access trend aims to provide immediate, free and unrestricted access to knowledge for all. Publishing in a fully open access journal increases the visibility of research results and facilitates their reuse while preserving copyright. Being a member of an editorial board or an article reviewer of a fully open access journal contributes to support publishers who implement open access, and to sustain the journal quality. CIRAD provides guidance to scientists in selecting journals.

Make the most of high quality fully open access journals

In a fully open access journal, all articles are available for free immediately upon publication. This is not the case with embargoed journals, which release articles for free access after a delay of several months or years after publication.
Free on-line bibliographic registries and databases are available to search for open access high quality journals.

Prioritize fully open access journals with no article processing charges

Fully open access journals with no article processing charges (APCs) for authors provide free access to all their articles without charging fees to authors nor to their institutions. This journal model is called the Diamond Road of Open Access, also known as the Gold Road no APC or Platinum Road.

Beware of the rates of fully open access journals with APCs

Fully open access journals with APCs pass the costs of open access publication on to authors and their institutions. This journal model is called the Gold Road APC. These costs should be considered before submitting an article, as they can cause considerable expense for the institution or the project that incurs them. 
Particular caution must be paid to predatory journals whose commercial goals have little regard for research Integrity and ethics. Publishing in such journals damages the institution’s reputation.

Avoid the paid open access option of hybrid journals

Hybrid journals are subscription-based but offer authors immediate open access publishing on the condition they pay APCs. This journal model is called Gold Hybrid Road. This model should be avoided because it entails that the institution pays the journal several times: to publish open access articles and to have access to articles that are not in open access. 
More and more research funding agencies (e.g. cOAlition S consortium and its Plan S supported by the European Commission) refuse to cover these costs. These funders promote the transition of hybrid journals to full open access through transformative agreements with research institutions. These agreements combine paid subscription with open access publishing at reduced or no cost.

Consider journals that allow immediate free distribution of postprints

The postprint is the author’s manuscript accepted by the journal. Some subscription journals, hybrid or not, allow authors to deposit postprints in an institutional open repository, such as Agritrop for CIRAD.

Choose the licence with maximum dissemination

A licence to disseminate a published article or its postprint allows the author or copyright holder to grant rights to users. In general a Creative Commons (CC) licence is used. The licence specifies the conditions for reuse, distribution and sharing of the article. 
For example, the CC BY licence is the most open, as it authorises any use of the article, including commercial as non-commercial one, provided the author and the article are cited. Plan S recommends this licence for published articles and postprints.

Resources

CoopIST (CIRAD), didactic site of helpful information for publishing (in French)
https://coop-ist.cirad.fr/

Où publier (Where to publish), CIRAD’s information base of over 2270 journals (in French)
http://ou-publier.cirad.fr

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), global database of peer-reviewed open access journals; 70% of the journals listed do not charge authors any article processing charges
https://doaj.org/

Sherpa/Romeo, information resource on the open access policies of journals and publishers
https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/

Creative Commons (CC), licences that can be used for the distribution of content
https://creativecommons.org/choose/

Full open access and APC-free journals produced or supported by CIRAD

• Bois et Forêts des Tropiques (Tropical woods and forests) (https://revues.cirad.fr/index.php/BFT)
• Cahiers Agricultures (https://revues.cirad.fr/index.php/cahiers-agricultures/index)
• Natures Sciences Sociétés (https://www.nss-journal.org/)
• Perspective (https://revues.cirad.fr/index.php/perspective/)
• Revue d’élevage et de médecine vétérinaire des pays tropicaux (Journal of animal husbandry and veterinary medicine in tropical countries) (https://revues.cirad.fr/index.php/REMVT)

CIRAD, DGDRS-DIST, January 2022

Email: dist-com@cirad.fr