Alternative publishing models

There are three main models of alternative publication available to authors which provide different types of access and shift who pays for the publication from the traditional model.

Often referred to as "repository-based open access" this is where an author publishes in a subscription journal as well as depositing a version of the output in an institutional repository (such as La Trobe's OPAL repository) or a subject repository (such as PubMed).  This is the preferred option for NHMRC & ARC.

Also known as "journal-based open access", this is when an author publishes in an open access journal where it is immediately available for readers to access for without the need to pay.  Depending on the journal, authors may sometimes be required to pay an article processing charge to the publisher.

This option blends some of the elements from each of the other options to create a mixed form of open access.  If an APC is paid to the publisher, they will publish in their subscription journal plus make the item immediately available via open access.  If an APC is not paid to the publisher, access is only available to that item via purchased institutional subscriptions.