Some researchers are cautious about selecting OA publications for their research due to misconceptions or uncertainty about how to choose an outlet. The following resources may answer some of those concerns.

• ​"Debunking the Myths of Open Access" (Mendeley Blog)--answers some of the frequent concerns about OA. 
• The Open Access Citation Advantage (SPARC)--an extensive list of studies showing the advantage of open access in increasing article citations.​

Choosing and evaluating an open access publication

• Why Open Research?: How to find a suitable open access journal offers a step-by-step guide to finding and selecting an open access journal for publication.
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) provides a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.
• Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) offers an online directory of high-quality, peer-reviewed books published in open access format..
• Think. Check. Submit offers a simple checklist researchers can use to assess the credentials of a journal or book publisher. See also the Think. Check. Attend. site for a similar checklist on conferences.
• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (World Association of Medical Editors)

International OA publications

• Cyberleninka.ru provides a directory of Russian-language OA publications
• OpenEdition.org offers a collection of international OA journals and other publication platforms
• Open Humanities Press Journals [requires UNT login] an international, scholar-led open access publishing collective that includes journals in a variety of humanities disciplines
• Oxford Open [requires UNT login] is a database of OA publications, including books and journals, offered by Oxford University Press
• redalyc.org provides a network of scientific journals in Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain & Portugal
• SciELO.org offers a directory of OA scientific journals in Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain & Portugal

Protecting author's rights
OA publishing can actually help authors maintain more control over access to and use of their published work, provided they learn how to negotiate their intellectual property rights and utilize Creative Commons licenses.

• UNT Libraries Copyright Advisory Services can help answer questions or concerns about author's rights, provide information on negotiating author addendums, and discuss licensing and other intellectual property issues.
• Creative Commons provides a set of customizable copyright licenses for sharing your work.

​Producing an open access journal
One way to increase the quality and value of OA publishing is for scholars to establish OA journals in their own fields. 

• UNT Libraries Journal Hosting provides hosting and consultation support to the UNT departments and faculty who are interested in producing their own online open access scholarly journal.

Paying for open access
Some (but not all) OA publications require author fees for publication. Often, these fees can be waived or subsidized. Here are a few resources to help find more information.

• Why Open Research?: How can I fund my open access publication? 
• Note: Many funding agencies also allow grant funds to be used for publication charges. Contact those funding agencies for details. 
• List of Funding Sources for Open Access Books

Organizations that support OA publishing

• The Open Library of Humanities (OLH) is a charitable organization dedicated to publishing open access scholarship with no author-facing article processing charges (APCs). 
• NEH Fellowships Open Book Program offers grants to digitize and make openly-available books published during the last three years that have received funding from one of several NEH grant programs aimed at underserved communities.
• The Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3) is a partnership of libraries, key funding agencies, and research centers in 44 countries and 3 intergovernmental organizations. Working with leading publishers, SCOAP3 has converted key journals in the field of High-Energy Physics to Open Access at no cost for authors.

Tips for finding OA journals with no APCs:

1. From https://doaj.org/ , click “Advanced Search”.
2. Under “Journals vs Articles”, choose “Journals”.  A new facet will appear: “Article processing charges (APCs)”.
3. Under “Article processing charges (APCs)”, choose “No”.
4. Use other facets (like “Subject”) or search terms to narrow results further.
5. Also, one general rule of thumb is that journals that offer subscriptions usually have an option for authors to not pay an APC. Some "hybrid" journals offer an option to only pay an APC to make the article available to non-subscribers. 

Publishers offering discounts to UNT Authors

• BMC (BioMED CENTRAL): BMC is a leading publisher of numerous open-access journals in science, technology, and medicine. UNT is a Supporter Member of BMC, which entitles UNT researchers to a 15% discount on article-processing charges.
• ELSEVIER/TLCUA OA publising agreement: Offers discounts to UNT authors of between 5-15%, depending on journal and options selected. To search eligible journal titles, search this page by journal title or subject. 
• OPEN BOOK PUBLISHERS: Open Book Publishers is run by scholars committed to making high-quality research available to readers around the world. UNT is member, which entitles UNT researchers to free ebook downloads and discounted prices on print editions of books from Open Book Publishers.
• SPIE JOURNALS: SPIE journals are dedicated to advancing the science and application of light-based technologies, and committed to broad dissemination of the scientific record. In order to help SPIE journal authors reach a broad global audience, all of our journals offer open access publication. UNT faculty are eligible for the discounted member rates listed on the website.
• SPRINGEROPEN: Springer publishes over 195 fully open-access journals under the SpringerOpen brand. UNT is a Supporter Member of SpringerOpen, which entitles UNT researchers to a 15% discount on article-processing charges for these journals.  Note that this discount does not apply to the optional author fee for Springer’s subscription-based journals under the Open Choice program.

If you aren't sure about the open access policies of your chosen publications or funding agencies, the links below can help you find more information:

• Sherpa/Juliet: a searchable database with summaries of research funders' policies on open access.
• Sherpa/Romeo: a searchable database of journal and publisher policies on authors distributing copies of their works.

For larger discussions of OA policies at the institutional or government level, check out these sites:

• Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI) brings together representatives from North American universities with established faculty open access policies and those universities in the process of developing such policies.
• Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) is an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly communication.