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Other article types

This category includes, for example; book reviews, contributions to reference works (such as handbooks, academic encyclopaedias or bibliographies), letters to the editor, commentaries, and (guest) editorials.

These are often contributions made at the invitation of a journal or publisher, which makes it more difficult to choose an open access route. For example, you cannot simply submit your contribution to another journal. Additionally, it is not always clear which of these article types are included in a funder’s open access mandate. When in doubt, contact your funder. 

Given these factors, there are a few things you should bear in mind before committing to your contribution:

Contributions to a diamond open access publication  

What is diamond open access?  

  • Publication in or on a fully open access journal, book or platform. 
  • The publication is immediately open access. 
  • The route is free for authors and editors. 
  • The publication has an open licence (CC BY, possibly CC BY-NC and/or CC BY-ND). 

What do I need to bear in mind?  

You can always contribute to a diamond open access publication without any worries. Your contribution will be published as open access without any further administrative procedures, and you will not face any unexpected costs. With diamond, you will also automatically meet your funder’s open access requirements. 

Contributing to a gold open access publication  

 What is gold open access?  

  • Publication in or on a fully open access journal, book or platform. 
  • The publication is immediately open access. 
  • This route involves publication fees for authors or editors. 
  • The publication has an open licence (CC BY, or possibly CC BY-NC and/or CC BY-ND). 

What do I need to bear in mind? 

Before agreeing, check whether you will be required to pay publishing costs. A reputable journal or platform is unlikely to ask for payment for a contribution you are writing at their invitation. Have you been asked by a gold open access journal to be a guest editor for a special issue? Be aware that such issues do not always have a good reputation. Read more about reputable and untrustworthy publishers on our website. 

Do you trust the journal and would you like to contribute? If so, you may be able to cover the publication costs from your research budget. 

Contributing to a hybrid open access publication   

What is hybrid open access?  

  • Publication in a subscription journal or platform that makes individual articles available as open access on request.  
  • The publication is immediately open access.
  • Publication involves publication charges (APCs).  
  • The publication has an open licence. Preferably choose a CC BY licence, even if the publisher offers you other options, such as CC BY-NC and/or CC BY-ND.   

What do I need to bear in mind?  

Many research funders do not allow you to pay the publication fees for articles in hybrid journals from your research budget. You might, however, be able to make use of an open access deal, which entitles you to a discount of up to 100% on publication costs. But please note: not all article types are included in such a deal. In the UU Journal Browser, you can see whether the journal is covered by a deal. Click on the journal title to see for which article types the APC is covered. 

If the article type is not covered by a deal and is not subject to your funder’s open access requirements, you can opt for closed publication and use green open access via Taverne scheme (see below). Or you can ask the journal for ‘bronze open access’. Under this arrangement, the article is available to read on the publisher’s website immediately after publication, but without an open licence. 

Is your article type not part of a deal, but still subject to your funder’s open access requirements? In that case, it is best to use green open access via the Rights Retention route (see below).  

Contributing to a closed access publication  

If the article is published closed access, you can use the green route to open access. 

What is green open access, via the Taverne scheme?   

  • You publish closed access with the publisher. 
  • Your publication becomes open access available via the UU Repository, six months after publication. 
  • This route is free of charge for authors.  
  • The open access version will have the same licence as the closed version.   

How do I follow this route?  

Check whether your publication is listed in Pure. If not, add it yourself. 

What is green open access via the Rights Retention Strategy?   

  • You publish closed access with the publisher. 
  • The author’s version (AAM) is immediately open access available via the UU Repository.  
  • This route is free of charge for authors. 
  • The publication is licensed under a CC BY licence in the UU Repository.  

How do I follow this route? 

Please include a Rights Retention Statement with your article when you submit it to the journal or publisher. You can find the statement in the step-by-step guides for UU and UMC Utrecht authors. Upload the author’s version (AAM) of your article to Pure and tick the ‘Rights Retention Statement’ box. Your author’s version will then be made available via the UU repository no later than the article’s publication date. 

Note: if your funder is ZonMW, upload your AAM to EuropePMC.