Open Access > Finding a suitable journal

Finding a suitable journal

There are three basic types of open journals from which an author can choose.

Forms of publication in OA journals

Pure unpaid open access journals

  • Diamond (Platinum) Open Access
  • The full content of the journal is open access, with no publication fees, the publisher (e.g. university press, scientific community) covers the costs of publishing

Paid open access journals

  • Gold Open Access
  • The full content of the journal is open access
  • Costs associated with publishing the article are covered by the author – they pay the publication fee (APC)
  • Publication fees are generally an allowable cost in research projects

Hybrid journals

  • The journal is accesible to subscribers by default
  • Option to make the article available in Open Access (Gold OA) mode after payment of the publication fee (APC)
  • Journals may contain:
    • Open Access articles
    • Articles available only on payment basis (journal subscription or payment per article)
  • Disadvantages:
    • Higher cost and double payment – the institution pays for the journal as part of the subscription and also pays individual authors APCs to publish OA articles
    • This model is advantageous mainly for publishers

Journals available for free after embargo (time delay) expires are not considered open access – they do not meet the immediate access requirement.

Predatory journals

Dishonest publishers and magazines, collectively known as predators, have begun to parasitise the idea of paid open journals. Fraudulent/pseudoscience journals or entire collections of journals from one publisher are set up primarily to collect fees. They publish content that has not undergone a standard peer review process and is therefore not verified and trustworthy. More information about predators is available in the chapter Predatory publishing.

Find an Open Access Journal



, Last change: 10.02.2026