How to choose a scientific publication for your research
Publishing in a high-quality publication channel will increase the impact of research.
Open access journals and books
Scientific journal articles, book chapters, and books can be published immediately as open access. This page provides information and reference material on open access journals and books.
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Open access journals
Gold open access
Open access journals are scientific journals that publish all articles open access and do not charge separate subscription fees to readers. Journals that publish all articles immediately as open access are referred to as full open access journals or gold open access journals.
Since open access journals do not charge subscription fees to readers, they often require authors to pay an article processing charge (APC fee).
Funders committed to Plan S initiative, such as EU and the Research Council of Finland (former Academy of Finland), encourage researchers to publish in open access journals, when the project's funding call has started after 1 January 2021. In Horizon Europe projects, only APC fees in full open access (gold open access) journals are eligible for reimbursement as direct project costs.
Please find a list of Aalto open access agreements including gold open access journals:
Agreements including fully open access (gold) journals
Diamond open access
Diamond open access refers to full open access journals which do not charge fees to either authors or readers.
In 2022, an international Action Plan for Diamond Open Access was prepared, with the aim to support and further develop diamond open access publishing model. Plan S organizations, including the Research Council of Finland (former Academy of Finland), support this action plan.
Diamond open access journals are often smaller in terms of publication volume, and many of them are published by research organizations or societies. In 2021, Science Europe published OA Diamond Journals Study.
Publication Forum 15.2.2023: Diamond future of open access
Diamond open access journals used by Aalto's researchers
In 2023, we identified diamond open access journals in which Aalto's researchers have published in 2018-2022. According to the survey, approx. 2 % of Aalto's peer-reviewed scientific journal articles are published in diamond open access journals. The results of the survey are indicative.
Read more: Savolainen, E., & Seitsonen, K. (2023). Diamond Open Access: Researcher’s Best Friend or just a Distant Relative?. The 18th Munin Conference on Scholarly Publishing.
Diamond open access publishing and results of the survey were also discussed at the webinar "Current Trends in Academic Publishing: Diamond Open Access Journals, 24.10.2023."
Open access books
It is possible to publish scientific books open access, and individual book chapters can also be published open access by paying an article processing charge (APC fee).
DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals)
DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) is the most extensive, critical directory of scientific open access journals. Journals can be searched based on a subject area as well as author processing charges ("journals without APCs").
Free Journal Network
Free Journal Network aims to promote scholarly journals run according to the Fair Open Access model. These journals are controlled by the scholarly community, and most of them are indexed in the DOAJ database as well.
Journal.fi
Journal.fi is a service maintained by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) for publishing Finnish scholarly journals.
Open Research Europe
Open Research Europe is a scientific publishing platform for Horizon2020 and Horizon Europe projects. Researchers funded by these projects can publish their research articles open access in Open Research Europe without any author processing charges (APC fees). By doing so, authors automatically meet their funder's requirements for open access publishing. Open Research Europe also enables open peer review.
DOAB (Directory of Open Access Books)
DOAB (Directory of Open Access Books) is the most extensive, critical directory of scientific open access books. Open access books can be browsed by both subject and publisher.
Oapen
Oapen is an extensive, critical directory on open access books.
InTech Open Access Books
InTech Open Access Books contains e-books in the fields of science, technology, health sciences and social sciences.
Edition.fi
Edition.fi is an online platform which includes Finnish monographs and edited volumes.
Helsinki University Press (HUP)
Helsinki University Press is a scholarly open access publisher of the University of Helsinki and Gaudeamus. All of its publications are freely available online.
Tampere University Press (TUP)
Tampere University Press is a scholarly open access publisher of peer-reviewed academic books focusing on social and human sciences.
Aalto ARTS Books
Aalto ARTS Books has published open access research literature that is freely available online.
Theses
According to the Aalto University open access publishing principles, most doctoral and master’s theses are openly accessible in the Aalto University repository. For some theses, only abstracts or metadata are openly available.
Reliability of the publication channel – predatory journals
When selecting a publication channel, you should pay attention to the openness and reliability of the publication channel.
The number of questionable publication channels is constantly increasing. So-called predatory journals charge for publishing, but neglect the obligations of the scientific publication, such as rigorous peer review. However, shortcomings in the quality of the editorial work may also be caused by lack of competence or resources.
Contact information
For any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Open Science and ACRIS team ([email protected]).
Open Access Publishing
Open access ensures that scientific publications are accessible to everyone free of charge.
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