Open access (OA) to scholarly publications means that research results and outcomes are openly available online, allowing readers to access, use, copy, print and link to the publication at no cost. In this way, research results are disseminated more rapidly both within the research community and to the public. Open access publishing includes both OA publishing on the publisher’s platform (full OA or hybrid OA) and self-archiving (green OA, parallel publishing).

Guidelines for researchers and teachers

• Researchers at Åbo Akademi University (employed and otherwise affiliated) publish teries, books, conference publications and reprints, as well as scholarly monographs. The default is to publish open access.
• Scholarly publications produced at Åbo Akademi University are made openly available, either by;
  • the researcher choosing an open access publication channel, or
  • the researcher self-archiving a peer-reviewed manuscript version in AboCRIS (green OA).
  • If high-quality OA publication channels do not exist and self-archiving is not possible, deviations from the principle of open access publishing may be considered.
• ÅAU researchers prioritise publication channels that allow Creative Commons licenses. CC-BY is primarily recommended for maximum dissemination, but more restrictive licenses can be used when justified.
• Researchers are recommended to publish their scholarly edited volumes and monographs as open access.
• All scholarly publications are self-archived in Åbo Akademi University’s research portal AboCRIS as close to the publication date as possible. If the publisher’s standard policy requires an embargo, researchers should claim the right to embargo-free access to the peer-reviewed manuscript as a requirement by their organisation in the submission process.
• For co-authored publications, ÅAU-affiliated co-authors are to ensure their right to self-archive.
• ÅAU researchers share preprints on relevant preprint servers when appropriate in their field of research.
• Other types of publications are also published as openly as possible. Researchers at Åbo Akademi University disseminate their research and research outcomes, for example in professional journals and popular science publications, and via in mass media.

Guidelines for the organisation

• All ÅAU-affiliated researchers regardless of funding form, career stage or field of research should have the opportunity to publish open access. ÅAU defines the framework for this and provides counselling for researchers.
• Åbo Akademi University’s own publishing activities are guided by the principles of open access publishing.
• Dissertations produced at ÅAU are, as a rule, published open access. Guidelines for exceptions are defined in ÅAU’s regulations or instructions.
• ÅAU maintains systems and services for self-archiving and for open access publishing of theses and other publications.
• ÅAU supports researchers’ right to self-archive with Creative Commons-licenses according to international and national guidelines.
• ÅAU contributes to the cost transparency for scholarly publishing and open access.