The Publishing Lifecycle

There are different steps that occur during the publishing lifecycle. 

Step 1: choosing your journal

In the first instance, the University's preference for journal selection is for you to consider publishing your work in an eligible journal from one of our current read and publish agreements. These agreements provide coverage for Article Processing Charges (APCs), for Gold OA publication in hybrid journals. Some agreements also provide APC coverage for a publisher's collection of fully Gold OA journals. 

Diamond OA journals (for example, Open Library of Humanities) and publishing platforms (for example, Octopus) are also an option. Publication venues that class as Diamond OA publish articles Gold OA, but do not charge APCs. Instead, their business model is to be either publicly funded or community-led. You can search for Diamond OA journals on DOAJ (tick the box, 'Without fees').

Consider the appropriateness of the journal for your research, as a specialist journal may be more suitable than a journal that covers a broader range of subjects in your field of expertise. Journal ranking lists (for example, provided by Scopus and Web of Science) can be useful to help you identify relevant journals, but you should not choose or avoid a journal simply because of its ranking position.

Journals to avoid are 'predatory journals'. These are typically Gold OA journals that charge APCs, but do not provide the expected services (for example, thorough peer-review) or provide misleading information on their website (for example, fake metrics or editorial board). Further information about predatory publishing is available on Think Check Submit.

Step 2: peer review and acceptance

Once you have drafted your manuscript ready for submission to the journal, it undergoes a process of peer-review. This typically determines if your article is accepted for publication or rejected by the journal. If rejected, the peer-review process will provide feedback.

If your article is provisionally accepted for publication, then the peer-review process may provide you with amendments to make to the manuscript. Once you receive firm acceptance, the publisher gets your article ready for publication through a process of typesetting and proofing.

Step 3: signing publishing agreement

Once your article is accepted for publication, the corresponding author signs the publishing agreement on behalf of all co-authors on the article (where applicable). Signing this agreement normally involves copyright transfer of your work to the publisher, who becomes the copyright holder to the final typeset version of record.

In traditional publishing, the standard option is to publish your work in a hybrid journal cost-free, then the publisher restricts access to published content behind a paywall, and charges a fee for access.  The fee is normally paid for via subscriptions from University Libraries, so that staff and students can access journal content.

If your article is published under subscription, online redistribution of the version of record is typically disallowed. But, most academic publishers do allow Green OA redistribution of the post-print version (the peer-reviewed accepted manuscript) through their own self-archiving policies, which outline author rights of reuse.

For articles published under subscription, the University's Open Access and Institutional Rights Retention Policy also supports self-archiving of the author accepted manuscript in Pure, without embargo and with a Creative Commons Attribute (CC-BY) license applied. This may conflict with the self-archiving policy of your chosen journal - so for transparency, you are strongly encouraged to add a rights retention statement in the acknowledgements of your submitted manuscript.

Another option is to make an up-front payment of the publisher's APC. This makes your work Gold OA on the publisher's website, and returns copyright to the author(s) via the application of a Creative Commons licence to the version of record. Authors then have the right of reuse of the version of record. If you publish in a fully Gold OA journal, then APC payment is necessary in order to publish. You therefore need to ensure you have funds available before submitting your article.

Article versions

These are the naming conventions that are commonly referred to during the publishing lifecycle.

• Author submitted manuscript: The 'pre-print' version of the article as it has been submitted to the journal for publication, before any peer-review amendments have been made to the manuscript.

• Author accepted manuscript: The 'post-print' version of the article as it has been accepted for publication by the journal, after any peer-review amendments have been made to the manuscript.

• Publisher proofs: Any version the publisher creates during their copyediting process after acceptance, ranging from an edited post-print to a template of the version of record.

• Version of record: The version as published, both early online on the journal website before being ascribed to a volume and issue, and its final paginated location in print. 

Unless your article is published Gold OA with an open license, the publisher retains copyright to their proofs and version of record.

Journal types

These are the types of journals that are available in the academic publishing sector:

• Hybrid OA journal: A subscription journal that typically retains copyright, offers APC payment as an option, and has both Green OA and Gold OA as options for authors. 

• Gold OA journal: A fully OA journal that typically requires payment of an APC in order to publish, and makes the version of record OA immediately with an open licence. 

• Transformative journal: A hybrid OA journal that is part of a Transformative Agreement, in the UK sector provided via Jisc, to transition into a fully Gold OA journal.

• Diamond OA journal: A Gold OA journal that does not charge APCs. Their business model is to be either publicly funded or community-led. 

Contact us

For guidance on OA, you can contact openaccess@port.ac.uk.