No matter the subject of your work, there is a probably an open access journal to publish in. The best place to start in your search for an open access journal is the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The DOAJ provides a comprehensive list of golden open access journals including those from major publishers.
Publishers like Elsevier, Wiley, Springer, and Taylor & Francis provide a range of open access journals. These publishers also often offer hybrid open access options for traditional, non-open access journals. Read each journal's open access policy carefully for more information.
There are also options for publishing open access books and book chapters. As with journal articles, each publisher has different open access policies. However, you can search for open access books and publishers in the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) or this list of publishers of open access books maintained by Simmons University.
Some publishers take advantage of the open access model by charging authors Article Processing Charges and then publishing sub-standard content and/or defrauding authors. There is no definitive list of predatory journals and some journals fall into a grey area that leaves it up to the author to decide on the quality and legitimacy of the journal.
Think. Check. Submit. provides a quick set of questions to consider when reviewing a journal.
If you are still not sure, your librarian can help you figure out the best journal to publish in and the ones to avoid.
Another important piece of the open access publishing puzzle is copyright. How quickly can you freely share your work? Can you even share it at all? Every publisher is different and things can get confusing. The most important step to take to avoid violating copyright rules is to carefully read any policy you agree to as part of the publishing process so you understand exactly when and how you can share your work.
SHERPA RoMEO provides a searchable directory of journals and their policies on self-archiving.
Your librarian can help you understand publishers' policies, but you should contact a legal expert (such as the Office of General Counsel at UM) if you need legal advice.
