--- name: open-access-guide-dfaa456bc5b4 description: "Navigate open access policies, repositories, and legal full-text retrieval me..." metadata: openclaw: emoji: "🔓" category: "literature" subcategory: "fulltext" keywords: ["open access", "full-text retrieval", "journal copyright policy", "self-archiving", "open access rights"] source: "wentor" --- # Open Access Guide A skill for understanding open access publishing models, locating free full-text articles legally, and navigating self-archiving policies. Essential for researchers at institutions with limited journal subscriptions. ## Open Access Models ### Types of Open Access | Type | Description | Cost to Author | Reader Access | |------|------------|----------------|---------------| | Gold OA | Published OA by journal (APC paid) | $1,000-$11,000 | Immediate, permanent | | Green OA | Self-archived preprint/postprint | Free | After embargo (0-24 months) | | Diamond/Platinum OA | Journal charges no APC | Free | Immediate, permanent | | Bronze OA | Free to read on publisher site | Free | No reuse license, may be temporary | | Hybrid OA | OA article in subscription journal | $2,000-$5,000 | Immediate for that article | ### Checking OA Status ```python import requests def check_oa_status(doi: str) -> dict: """ Check open access availability using the Unpaywall API. Args: doi: DOI of the paper (e.g., '10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2') Returns: OA status and best available link """ email = "researcher@university.edu" # Required by Unpaywall API url = f"https://api.unpaywall.org/v2/{doi}?email={email}" response = requests.get(url) if response.status_code != 200: return {'error': f'API returned status {response.status_code}'} data = response.json() # Find best OA location best_location = data.get('best_oa_location', {}) return { 'doi': doi, 'title': data.get('title', ''), 'is_oa': data.get('is_oa', False), 'oa_status': data.get('oa_status', 'closed'), 'journal_is_oa': data.get('journal_is_oa', False), 'best_oa_url': best_location.get('url', None) if best_location else None, 'version': best_location.get('version', None) if best_location else None, 'license': best_location.get('license', None) if best_location else None, 'all_locations': len(data.get('oa_locations', [])) } # Example result = check_oa_status('10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2') if result['is_oa']: print(f"OA available: {result['best_oa_url']}") else: print("Not openly available -- check Green OA options below") ``` ## Legal Full-Text Sources ### Repositories and Aggregators | Source | Type | Coverage | URL | |--------|------|----------|-----| | PubMed Central (PMC) | Repository | Biomedical + life sciences | ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc | | arXiv | Preprint server | Physics, CS, Math, Stats | arxiv.org | | bioRxiv/medRxiv | Preprint server | Biology, medicine | biorxiv.org / medrxiv.org | | SSRN | Preprint server | Social sciences, law, economics | ssrn.com | | Zenodo | Repository | All disciplines | zenodo.org | | CORE | Aggregator | 300M+ papers from repositories | core.ac.uk | | OpenAlex | Search + OA links | Cross-disciplinary | openalex.org | | BASE (Bielefeld) | Aggregator | 400M+ documents | base-search.net | ### Batch OA Lookup ```python def batch_oa_lookup(dois: list[str]) -> list[dict]: """ Check OA status for a batch of DOIs. Unpaywall supports up to 100,000 DOIs per day. """ results = [] for doi in dois: status = check_oa_status(doi) results.append(status) # Summary statistics total = len(results) oa_count = sum(1 for r in results if r.get('is_oa', False)) print(f"OA availability: {oa_count}/{total} ({oa_count/total*100:.1f}%)") # Group by OA status by_status = {} for r in results: status = r.get('oa_status', 'unknown') by_status.setdefault(status, []).append(r) for status, papers in by_status.items(): print(f" {status}: {len(papers)} papers") return results ``` ## Self-Archiving and Green OA ### Checking Publisher Policies Use SHERPA/RoMEO to determine what you can self-archive: ```python def check_sherpa_romeo(issn: str, api_key: str) -> dict: """ Check journal self-archiving policy via SHERPA/RoMEO. Args: issn: Journal ISSN api_key: SHERPA/RoMEO API key """ url = f"https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/cgi/retrieve/by_id?item-type=publication&format=Json&api-key={api_key}&filter=[[%22issn%22,%22equals%22,%22{issn}%22]]" response = requests.get(url) data = response.json() if not data.get('items'): return {'error': 'Journal not found'} journal = data['items'][0] policies = journal.get('publisher_policy', []) results = { 'journal': journal.get('title', [{}])[0].get('title', ''), 'publisher': journal.get('publishers', [{}])[0].get('publisher', {}).get('name', ''), 'policies': [] } for policy in policies: for permitted in policy.get('permitted_oa', []): results['policies'].append({ 'version': permitted.get('article_version', ''), 'location': permitted.get('location', {}).get('location', []), 'conditions': permitted.get('conditions', []), 'embargo': permitted.get('embargo', {}).get('amount', 0), 'license': permitted.get('license', []) }) return results ``` ### Version Terminology - **Preprint** (submitted manuscript): Author's version before peer review - **Postprint** (accepted manuscript): Author's version after peer review, before typesetting - **Published version** (Version of Record): Final published PDF with journal formatting Most funders (NIH, UKRI, ERC) require deposit of at least the postprint in a repository. Always check your specific funder mandate and journal policy before self-archiving. ## Institutional Repository Deposit When depositing in your institutional repository: 1. Identify the correct version (usually postprint for Green OA) 2. Check the embargo period from SHERPA/RoMEO 3. Add complete metadata: title, authors, DOI, journal, abstract, keywords 4. Apply the correct license (often CC BY for funder mandates) 5. Link to the publisher's Version of Record via DOI This maximizes discoverability while respecting publisher agreements. --- Source attribution: wentorai Original project: https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins/blob/bf44b3cd617fa94c8a1b254c5d1987142ca3d631/skills/literature/fulltext/open-access-guide/SKILL.md License: MIT License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI. ## Upstream license notice MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 Wentor AI Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Dave AI resource metadata Creator / publisher: wentorai Original project: https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins/blob/bf44b3cd617fa94c8a1b254c5d1987142ca3d631/skills/literature/fulltext/open-access-guide/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Source repository record Fields of work: Education & Research, Marketing Roles: Academic Writer, Content Marketer, Researcher Specialties: Specialty not specified Tools: Unpaywall Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: 05a8c977c14981ed521a259ee9747aaf13c51c4bfb0025eaf43bf86c42aa3d25