The AAM is the version of your article or book which:

• has been accepted for publication
• has been peer-reviewed
• has not yet gone through typesetting and layout by the publisher

This is typically the version that can be made Open Access via the 'Green' OA route i.e. depositing it in an open access repository such as DORAS. As an author it is important you keep a copy of your AAMs as you retain ownership of their copyright. With later versions (such as the final published version of record), copyright is often transferred to the publisher. 

For more information on uploading your AAM to DORAS see the 'Green OA' section of our Open Access page.

A one-off charge levied by publishers to publish an article as 'Gold' open access, so that it is made freely accessible upon publication on the publisher or journal website.

We provide coverage for APCs for DCU authors through our publisher agreements.

Bronze open access refers to when publishers make a selection of papers free to read their website. This typically omits a licence for reuse or a commitment to its long term open accessibility. For these reasons we may not consider or count Bronze OA as fully open access.

Creative Commons licences are a free and standardised way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works, ensure proper attribution; and allow others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works.

In the context of Open Access publishing, authors typically retain copyright of their Author Accepted Manuscript and may apply a CC licence to allow others to freely access and reuse their work without the need to obtain permission.

Citizen science refers to projects and practices that actively involve the general public in the scientific endeavour, with the goal of democratizing science. Citizen scientists can be involved in all stages of research, acting as collaborators, contributors or project leaders.

The corresponding author of a paper is the author who communicates with the publisher throught he peer review and publication process. Where there are multiple co-authors of a paper, one author will take on this role.

If you are looking to avail of APC coverage via our publisher agreements, you should make sure the corresponding author is DCU-affiliated at the time your article is accepted for publication.

Diamond open access is a model of open access that does not involve article or book processing charges. There are a number of ways this can be supported, including consortial or institutional support. 

DOAJ is a searchable database of around 20,000 international open access journals.

A DOI is a unique text string that is used to identify digital objects such as journal articles, data sets or open source software releases. A DOI is one type of Persistent Identifier (PID).

DOIs and PIDs provide permanent, reliable links to research outputs, ensuring they can always be found even if their location changes. This stability supports open research by making scholarly work easier to access, cite, and share over time.

The San Francisco Declaration of Research Assessment (DORA) is a global initiative that aims to reduce dependence on journal-based metrics such as journal impact measures and citations towards a culture where importance is placed on the intrinsic value of research.

The DORA declaration was published in 2012 and targets research funders, publishers, research institutes and researchers. The declaration has already been signed by more than 1,200 organisations and almost 14,000 researchers around the world.

Some Doras FAQs...

• What kinds of items can be uploaded to Doras?
  Doras accepts: journal articles, books and book chapters, research theses, conference items, monographs, working papers
• Will I break copyright if I store my work in Doras?
  No. We ensure that any material uploaded to Doras are fully compliant with copyright before they are made available. Sometimes this relates to the correct version being uploaded (usually the Author Accepted Manuscript is what we look for).
• Who can submit items to Doras?
  All DCU staff and postgraduate research students. You can upload material on behalf of somebody else, but they must be DCU affiliated. Papers co-authored with colleagues from other institutions are also accepted.
• I need help! Who do I contact?
  For any questions, queries, support please contact doras@dcu.ie.

FAIR data is a set of principles to define best practices for data storage to facilitate discovery, access and reuse by humans and machines.
FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. Findable and accessible are terms concerned with where materials are stored (for example, in data repositories), while interoperable and reusable focus on data formats, how open they are, and how your data is licenced for reuse.

Gold OA is the model of making a published work free to access via the publisher website upon publication. This typically requires articles processing charges (APCs), usually applied at the point an article is accepted for publication. There are two kinds of journals which provide APC-based Gold OA:

• 'Fully gold' journals, in which all their articles are published in this way.
• 'Hybrid' journals contain both traditional (paywalled) and Gold OA articles.

DCU authors in many cases can avail of our publisher agreements to cover the cost of APCs.

Green OA is a route to open access where you as author can self-archive a copy of your article in a disciplinary or institutional repository. Typically the version deposited is the Author Accepted Manuscript, while the version of record is accessed via the publisher site.

In DCU we support and faciliated Green Open Access through DORAS our Institutional Repository.

A hybrid journal is a journal that contains both open access and subscription-only articles. Typically the OA articles follow the Gold OA model with an APC applied when the article is accepted for publication. For DCU authors, we provide coverage for many APCs through our publisher agreements.

Impact factor is the average number of times articles in a journal are cited over a certain period, and it is often used as an indicator of the journal’s influence.

In the context of open research, it can create tension: although high-impact journals can increase the visibility of research, an emphasis on this metric may favour prestige over openness and limit the move toward freely accessible publishing.

Responsible metrics guards against such pitfalls by taking a broader view of research impact and quality.

Open access (OA) refers to making scholarly research outputs such as articles and books freely available online for anyone to read. Typically, open access also allows readers to redistribute, re-use and adapt content in new works.

You can find more information on different routes to OA and supports available for DCU authors on our Open Access page.

Open data is research data free for anyone to access or reuse. This can support reproducibility and transparency of research and may include raw data, processed data, code, or media files (e.g., images, maps, video, audio, text). 

We provide guidance on how to make your research 'as open as possible, as closed as necessary', following the FAIR Data principles. Find out more on our Research Data page.

Open peer review is an approach to reviewing research where the identities of authors and reviewers, and sometimes the review comments themselves, are made visible.

It supports open research by increasing transparency and accountability.

ORCID stands for Open Researcher and Contributor ID. It provides a persistent digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that you own and control, and that distinguishes you from every other researcher. You can connect your iD with your professional information — affiliations, grants, publications, peer review, and more.

ORCiD also describes the organisation, a global, not-for-profit organisation sustained by fees from our member organizations. We are a member of the Irish ORCiD consortium.

Research data management (RDM) refers to the handling of research data (collection, organisation, storage, and documentation). Good data management helps ensure that researchers manage and share their data according to FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, and re-useable).

Research funding typically require researchers to develop a Data Management Plan (DMP), a written document that describes the data you expect to acquire or generate during the course of a research project, how you will manage, describe, analyse, and store those data throughout the research project, and what mechanisms you will use at the end of your project to share and preserve your data.

We provide support via DMP Online, a tool for drafting Data Management Plans with guidance and templates in line with DCU/Ireland/EU requirements depending on your context. Our Research Data Librarian is also available for consultation. Find out more on our Research Data page.

The responsible use of research metrics forms an important part of the global move towards Open Research, featuring also in recommendations made in the National Framework on the Transition to an Open Research Environment (NORF, 2019).

We also have a DCU Statement on the Responsible Use of Research Metrics which sets out guiding principles for use of research metrics, to ensure a nuanced and balanced approach is taken.

More information on our Responsible Metrics page.