Article Processing Charge (APC)- A fee charged by the journal for the preparation of a manuscript. Often these fees are applied when an author decides to publish their article OA in a hybrid journal. This fee is often paid by an institution or by using grant funds. Not all OA journals charge APCs.
Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM)- Also called a postprint. A version of a manuscript after acceptance for publication but before copyediting, page numbers and formatting are applied by a publisher. This is often the version of an article that can be deposited into an OA repository.
Bronze Open Access-The article is available on the publisher's website for no charge, however, it does not have an OA license and access can be revoked at any time for any reason.
Creative Commons (CC)- An organization that creates licenses for works that are more permissive than traditional copyright licenses. See our guide to Creative Commons here.
Diamond/Platinum Open Access- The same as Gold, however, there is no APC as it is covered by a funding source such as a foundation or learned society.
Embargo- A period of time during which a work cannot be freely made available. The NIH currently requires that works that funded by it have an embargo period of 12 months or fewer before they are deposited in PubMed Central. However, peer-reviewed articles published on or after October 1, 2025 will have to be made available in PMC without an embargo, as mandated by the Nelson Memo.
Gold Open Access-Open access provided directly by the journal. Available as soon as it is published. The article will often be published with a CC-BY license allowing for a wide range of reuses. Sometimes the author (or their institution or funding source) will pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) to the publisher for article preparation.
Green Open Access-Open access either immediately or after an embargo period but the author must self-archive the work (for CSHL researchers you can archive in our institutional repository)
Hybrid Open Access- A journal that publishes both OA and paywalled articles. Authors will have to pay a fee to make their articles OA.
Institutional Repository- Digital storage of scholarly work and data hosted by an institution. During green open access archiving articles can be deposited here so that they are available going forward. Unlike publishing on your personal or lab website, these resources will remain even if you die or change jobs. CSHL hosts an institutional repository available to all CSHL members. The IR provides annotation, metadata, topics, and subjects for these materials. The goal is to collect all the works produced by a CSHL scientist throughout his/her career. We collect raw data, code, scripts, software, manuscripts, theses, presentations, posters, video, and audio files; as well as bibliographic information on all CSHL faculty, researchers, and graduate students.
Open Access (OA)- A philosophy that research should be freely available on the public internet for all to use. There are several different types of open access such as green and gold. OA publications often carry less restrictive copyright which allows for broader reuse.
Plan S- A series of principles in support of immediately available research. A number of public and private funders have signed on in support of Plan S and work funded by them must be made freely available at the time of publication.
Plan U- (U for Universal) A proposed requirement that grantees submit preprints to a preprint server in order to be compliant with the terms of the funding. This approach has been adopted by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Preprints- The version of a manuscript submitted for publication. This version is before peer review and publication in a journal. Manuscripts can be archived in a subject preprint repository such as arXiv, bioRxiv, or medRxiv.
Postprints- Also called an Author Accepted Manuscript. A version of a manuscript after acceptance for publication but before copyediting, page numbers and formatting are applied by a publisher. This is often the version of an article that can be deposited into an OA repository.
Publisher's Version- The final version of an article with copyediting, page numbers, and formating uploaded to the publisher's website. This version can sometimes be deposited in a repository. Check your publishing agreement to see if this applies to you. Also known as the Version of Record.
PubMed Central (PMC)- A subject-based repository for biomedical research funded by the National Institutes of Health. Works must be deposited into PMC within 12 months of publication. Journals will often deposit your manuscript for you if it is discussed during the publication process.
Version of Record-The final version of an article with copyediting, page numbers, and formating uploaded to the publisher's website. This version can sometimes be deposited in a repository. Check your publishing agreement to see if this applies to you. Also known as the Publisher's Version.