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Open Access

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As we work towards our vision to make knowledge accessible to all, CRKN is actively supporting open access (OA) publishing initiatives. Publishing open access ensures that research publications are freely and openly available online, enabling widespread access to evidence-based knowledge. Any use or reuse of open access content is still subject to full and proper attribution and will have an appropriate license, typically through the Creative Commons suite of licenses.

Interested in publishing open access? Use the search bar below to find the open access publishing options for journals covered by CRKN agreements.

Find a journal

CRKN’s Pathways to Open Access 

Guided by our members and the Content Strategy Committee, CRKN pursues multiple pathways to open access to advance the evolution of open research and facilitate seamless research communication.  

Partnership for Open Access

The Partnership for Open Access (POA) provides financial support to non-commercial scholarly journals through the ongoing commitment of library partners and is based on a close collaboration between all stakeholders of the research ecosystem.

Learn more

Community Initiatives

CRKN is committed to fostering community initiatives that advance open access. We actively seek opportunities to work with institutions, organizations, and publishers to create a more accessible and equitable scholarly landscape.  

Learn more

Read and Publish Agreements

Read and publish agreements are a form of transformative agreement that allow authors to publish open access immediately without any article processing charges (APCs). These agreements take the library’s existing expenditure on journal subscriptions and repurpose it to cover both reading and OA publishing in that publisher’s journals at no cost to authors. 

Learn more 

APC Discounts

The Content Strategy Committee has negotiated article processing charge (APC) discounts with a number of publishers for gold and hybrid OA publishing. These negotiated APC discounts reflect our commitment to making OA scholarly publishing more accessible. 

Learn more

Types of Open Access

Diamond Open Access

Diamond open access is a scholarly publication model in which journals do not charge fees to authors and readers. Diamond open access journals are often community-driven, academic-led, and academic-owned publishing initiatives. 

Gold Open Access

Gold open access ensures that the final version of an article or book is freely accessible for everyone on the publisher’s platform, immediately after publication. This type of open access usually requires paying an APC (article processing charge) or a book processing charge (BPC). A gold open access journal has all its content available open access, through APCs. 

Green Open Access

Green open access, also known as self-archiving, is making publications freely available via an open access repository. After publication in a subscription journal, an author accepted manuscript (AAM) is also placed in an open access repository, such as an institutional repository. Publishers may impose an embargo period, during which open access is restricted. 

Hybrid Open Access

A hybrid journal is a subscription journal in which some of the articles are open access. This usually requires the payment of a publication fee (APC) to the publisher by the author. If the author chooses not to pay the APC, the article is only available to readers with access to an institutional subscription or who have purchased access. 

Open Access Tools and Resources

Assessment Guidelines for Open Access Publishers

Principles that guide how we assess OA proposals from vendors and publishers to determine whether they meet CRKN membership’s goals and objectives. 

Read more

Webinar Series on Transformative Agreements

Discussions about transformative agreements and open access in Canada from a range of perspectives including CRKN member institutions, library consortia, policy makers, and not-for-profit publishers. 

Watch the recordings

CRKN Open Access Journals List

List of open access journals that are supported by CRKN member institutions.

View the list

Publication Data Report

Report prepared by CRKN that includes data  to support our commitment to evidence-based decisions and data-driven strategies in our content licensing program.

Learn more

Towards Open Scholarship: A Canadian Research and Academic Library Action Plan to 2025

Developed collaboratively, this document outlines the ways in which CRKN and CARL are leading a robust, multi-pronged open scholarship strategy that considers recent significant changes to the field, and how we plan to maintain alignment within this complex landscape. 

Read more

Related Documents

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  • Canadiana
  • License Information
    • CRKN Licensing Principles
    • Model License
    • The Banding System
    • Stakeholder Alignment Group
    • License Negotiations
    • Negotiation Outcomes
      • Invoicing Schedule
    • Directories
    • Publishers and Vendors
    • Tools and Services
      • Foreign Exchange Service
      • Publication Data Report
      • Unsub
      • Perpetual Access Rights Reports (Serials)
  • Open Access
    • Partnership for Open Access
    • Community Open Access Initiatives
    • Read and Publish Agreements
    • APC Discounts
    • Towards Open Scholarship: A Canadian Action Plan
    • Assessment Guidelines for Open Access Publishers
    • CRKN Open Access Journals List
  • Canadiana
    • About the Canadiana Collections
      • Call for Canadiana Collection Development Projects
      • What’s New in the Collections
      • Navigating the Collections
      • System Status
      • Canadiana Citation Guide
      • Canadiana Infrastructure Updates
      • Canadiana Collections Metadata
      • Usage Reports
      • Rights Statement Project
      • History of Canadiana
    • Digitization Services
      • Digitization Projects
    • Preservation and Access
      • Trustworthy Digital Repository
    • Digital Heritage Content and Preservation Listserv
    • Clark Wilson LLP Memo on the Acquisition and Use of Commercial Microfilm
    • Future of Canadiana
  • Persistent Identifiers
    • ORCID-CA Consortium
      • How to Join ORCID-CA
      • ORCID-CA Governing Committee
    • DataCite Canada Consortium
      • How to Join DataCite Canada
      • DataCite Canada Governing Committee
    • National PID Strategy
    • Canadian Persistent Identifier Advisory Committee
  • Projects and Collaborations
    • NISO Membership
    • SCOAP³
    • FMD Membership
    • Coalition for Canadian Digital Heritage
    • More Projects and Collaborations
  • News and Events
    • News
    • 2025 CRKN Virtual Conference
    • 2025 CRKN Member Summit and AGM
    • Code of Conduct
    • Webinars
  • About CRKN
    • Board of Directors
    • Members
      • Associate Membership
    • Committees
      • Executive Committee
      • Finance and Audit Committee
      • Content Strategy Committee
        • Knowledge Base Entitlements Sub-Committee
      • Preservation and Access Committee
        • Canadiana Content Sub-Committee
        • Platform Technical Sub-Committee
      • Conference Planning Committee
      • Task Groups
      • CRKN Researcher Council
    • Annual Report
    • Staff
    • Careers
    • History of CRKN
    • Ron MacDonald Service Award
    • Strategic Plan