Green Open Access
Definition of Green OA from the UC Libraries' Pathways to Open Access report:
"Green open access is repository-based open access. Green OA models are agnostic about publisher open access behaviors, relying instead on institutions and authors to take steps to make otherwise toll-access works freely available in online repositories that may be (and often are) managed by institutions. In essence, successful green open access requires: the right to share a given scholarly output, a copy of it, the motivation to share it, and a location for sharing it (i.e., a repository)."
Retaining the Right to Archive Your Work
Traditionally, the copyright to scholarly articles was transferred to the publisher, which prevented the author from placing their work in a repository ("self-archiving"). Today, many journals allow self-archiving by default, often with limitations on when, where, and what version of the article you can self-archive. When a journal's default agreement does not permit self-archiving, many authors negotiate to retain that right.
Article Versions
Publishing agreements often distinguish between three different versions of an article when describing what self-archiving is acceptable:
Disciplinary & Other Repositories
Academic Social Netoworks like Academia.edu and ResearchGate
Academic social networks, such as Academia.edu and ResearchGate, differ from open access repositories. They are typically operated on a for-profit basis and do not have the same preservation commitments as repositories hosted by academic institutions. The following articles provide more information about these distinctions.
Before you create an Academia.edu profile or upload any publications you should consider the risks and issues involved, such as security, confidentiality and copyright.
Please note: even though its domain name has the extension: '.edu', Academia.edu is a for-profit company.
Researchers should be aware of their publisher's policies on sharing their publications and self-archiving, i.e. which versions are allowable and on what platforms. Researchers should also make sure that the public access and archiving site they choose meets the requirements for their funders, for example, NIH or NSF.
