＊Japanese version is here→ “論文オープンアクセス化のご案内”
Since the end of the twentieth century, a structure called Open Access (OA) has been gradually developed that allows anyone to access peer-reviewed academic papers posted on the Internet for free. The skyrocketing prices of academic journals, advances in electronic technology and the global spread of the Internet pushed this development. This has created an opportunity for researchers to have their research results reviewed and cited by other researchers. Sharing and utilizing research results through Open Access increases the cost-effectiveness of R&D, promotes interdisciplinary research, and leads to more innovation. Within the context of scholarly information distribution, Open Access is now a mainstream method of increasing the visibility and value of academic papers.
Based on this situation, our university has created “Saitama University Open Access Policy” on October 17th, 2024. Please visit the link “埼玉大学オープンアクセス方針及び実施要領 (in Japanese only)” for details.
There are two methods to make academic papers Open Access documents: the Green Road and the Gold Road.
| ➀Green Road (Green OA) |
| This is a method of posting a publisher-certified manuscript (author’s final draft of a paper, preprint, etc.) on a free-access website after a period of time the publisher designates has passed (self-archiving). An example is when an author posts a paper on a server the university or other institutions they are affiliated with (such as an institutional repository) operates. Institutional repositories are electronic archives where universities and other institutions collect, store and publish the research results of their own institutions and allow anyone to view them for free. Saitama University operates a repository under the name “Saitama University Cyber Repository of Academic Resources (SUCRA)“. If you wish to post your paper using this method, please click here. |
| ➁Gold Road (Gold OA) |
| This is a method of making published academic papers accessible to anyone for free. For example, an author can pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) and submit the paper to an OA journal. By making the authors pay for the academic journal publishing fees, which had been paid by readers as subscription fees, this allows anyone to access OA papers. Saitama University contracts with several publishers to offer electronic journal (EJ) subscriptions, along with quotas for making researchers’ articles open access (OA), through transformative agreements. Also, through these subscription agreements, our university supports a discount on the APC tied to those contracted publishers. Please check the details on the pages below: ・Open Access Publishing supported by Transformative Agreements ・OA論文出版料の軽減について (in Japanese only) |
Note: As the Open Access system becomes more widespread, more and more journals are being published for the purpose of improperly obtaining APCs. Academic journals without a clear and rigorous peer-review process are called “predatory journals,” and their negative impact on the overall distribution of academic information has been a major issue in recent years. Once you submit your paper to a predatory journal,you may lose access to the paper that was supposed to become OA, and you may also lose your reputation as an author and researcher. Please be very careful where you submit your paper.
※With regards to public funding (from fiscal year 2025), there is an obligation to offer immediate open access to scientific results financed through competitive research funds publicly available including Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research “KAKENHI”. Please visit the link “学術論文等の即時オープンアクセス義務化について (in Japanese only)” for details.
