Scholarly Publishing Glossary

Accepted Author Manuscript

The final version of your manuscript that has been peer-reviewed and accepted by the publisher for publication.  It includes all final edits recommended through the submission and peer-review process, but has not been copy-edited and branded by the publisher. Also known as a post-print. This is not the same as the publisher’s PDF.

The majority of publishers allow you to comply with funders open access requirements by making your accepted author manuscript freely available.

See also: Submitted Author Manuscript | Published Version of Record | Post-print | Pre-Print.

Article Processing Charge (APC)

A publisher’s fee for covering publishing costs such as those associated with editorial and peer-review processes. Upon payment of an APC the paper is made open access immediately on publication (gold open access). 

Date of Acceptance

The date an article is accepted, after peer review, for publication by a journal. The Tri-Agency require that an article must be deposited in an institutional or subject repository within 12 months of this date.

Deposit

Process of adding a research output, such as an article or conference proceeding to a repository e.g. QSpace.

Embargo

A period of time during which access to scholarly work is restricted to those who have paid for access. This can be between 3 to 36 months, depending on the publisher agreement. Once the embargo period ends, an article that has been deposited to the repository, but ‘hidden’ from public view can be made available automatically online (if permitted by the publisher) to anyone with an internet connection.

Gold Open Access

Publishers make research articles immediately and freely available upon publication in an open access journal.  The journal usually requires payment of an article processing charge.

Green Open Access

The author makes a version of a research output freely available via an institutional or subject repository. Publishers stipulate the version of manuscript that can be self-archived and the length of embargo period following publication before the paper is made.

Hybrid Open Access Journal

A hybrid open access journal is a subscription journal in which some of the articles are open access. This status typically requires the payment of a publication fee (also called an article processing charge or APC) to the publisher.

Institutional Repository

An online archive of an institution’s scholarly outputs. The collection can include publications in peer-reviewed journals, books and book-sections, technical reports, working papers, monographs, conference presentations, audio and visual materials, or any other research content that has some scholarly value. Queen’s institutional repository is QSpace.

Metadata

Information that describes digital objects. For items in open access repositories, this usually consists of a full bibliographic citation, abstract, keywords, and other information to help make the item discoverable via web search engines.

Open Access

The online availability of scholarly work via the internet, free of charge to anyone from anywhere to access and read, provided they have a connection to the internet.

Open Access Journal

Open access (OA) journals are scholarly journals that are available for free online to the reader.  Publication in an open access journal usually requires payment by the author of an article processing charge. Check for available discounts for Queen's authors on APCs.

Post-print

The final author-created version that incorporates all edits and amends following the review process, and is the version accepted by the publisher for publication. Also known as the Accepted Author Manuscript. This is not the same as the publisher’s PDF.

See also: Accepted Author Manuscript | Submitted Author Manuscript | Published Version of Record | Pre-Print

Pre-print

The version that has been submitted to a journal for peer review. Also known as a Submitted Author Manuscript.

See also: Accepted Author Manuscript | Submitted Author Manuscript | Published Version of Record | Post-print

Published Version of Record

The publisher-created version. This is the final published version including the publisher’s copy-editing, proof corrections, layout, and typesetting.

See also: Accepted Author Manuscript | Submitted Author Manuscript | Post-print | Pre-Print

QSpace

An online archive of Queen’s University’s scholarly outputs. The repository includes publications in peer-reviewed journals, books and book-sections, technical reports, working papers, monographs, conference presentations, audio and visual materials, or any other research content that has some scholarly value. 

Self-archiving

The process of depositing your research output in an open access institutional of subject-based repository along with bibliographic metadata describing the work. This means that your research is available to the widest possible audience, including journalists, policy makers, industry and the general public - anyone who may not have access to the content via a journal subscription. At Queen’s you can self-archive your works in QSpace.  This is also called Green Open Access.

Subject Repository

An online archive of open access literature in specific fields or disciplines (e.g., PubMed Central for health and life sciences; arXiv for Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology, Quantitative Finance and Statistics).  To find a subject repository in your discipline please search the Directory of Open Access Repositories. 

Submitted Author Manuscript

The author's draft version that has been submitted to a journal for peer review. Also known as a pre-print.

See also: Accepted Author Manuscript | Published Version of Record | Post-print | Pre-Print.

Transformative Agreement

An agreement negotiated between an institution (library, consortium) and a publisher in which former subscription expenditures are repurposed to support open access publishing of the negotiating institution's authors.