As a researcher, you need to comply with the open research policies and requirements of the relevant research funding body and your own institution, including open access, open data and data management policies. In Australia, the Australian Research Council (ARC) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) are the key competitive funding bodies with open research policy requirements. Other funders of research, particularly international agencies who are part of cOAlition S (see below), may have specific open research conditions. It is important that you are aware of and adhere to the obligations contained in associated funding agreements.
Australian Research Council (ARC)
The ARC Open Access Policy applies to all research outputs arising from ARC-funded research, and their metadata.
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
The aims of the NHMRC Open Access Policy are to mandate the open access sharing of publications and encourage innovative open access to research data. This policy also requires that patents resulting from NHMRC funding be made findable through listing in SourceIP.
European Science Foundation
Plan S is an initiative for Open Access publishing, supported by cOAlition S, an international consortium of research funding and performing organisations.
It’s important that Avondale researchers apply guidelines related to the responsible conduct of research. Applying these guidelines:
encourages the widest possible dissemination of research at the earliest opportunity
ensures appropriate collection, access and use of data
ensures data produced through publicly funded research is accessible.
Avondale researchers are familiar with and apply the guidelines in the following documents.
Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
The 2018 Code is a principles-based document that articulates the broad principles and responsibilities that underpin the conduct of Australian research. Adherence to the 2018 Code is a prerequisite for the receipt of funding by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Management of Data and Information in Research
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
A guide designed to support institutions and researchers in applying the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. In particular, it supports the application of principles related to rigour, transparency, and accountability to the management of data and information.
Publication and Dissemination of Research
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
A guide designed to support institutions and researchers in applying the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. In particular, it supports the application of principles related to honesty, rigour, transparency, fairness, recognition of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, and accountability to the publication and dissemination of research.
Recommendation of the Council Concerning Access to Research Data from Public Funding
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The Recommendation seeks to assist governments, research support and funding organisations, research institutions, and researchers in dealing with the barriers to and challenges in improving the international sharing of research-relevant digital objects.
|
Article processing charge (APC) |
Fee charged to the author or creator, to cover the cost of publishing and disseminating an article, rather than charging the potential reader of the article. APCs may apply to both commercial and open access publications. |
|
Author's accepted manuscript |
Version of a manuscript that has been accepted by a publisher for publication, has completed the peer-review process but has not yet been published; also known as a 'post-print' (see this diagram). |
|
Embargo period |
A length of time imposed on a research output before it is made freely available (some publishers only allow an item to become freely available after a set length of time, often 12 or 24 months). |
|
Institutional repository |
An online database designed to collect the research output of a particular institution or university. For e.g. Avondale's Avondale Research, which accepts the following eligible item types: book/report, chapter in book/report/conference proceeding, contribution to a journal (author accepted manuscript version NOT the published PDF), conference publication, non-traditional research output, thesis. |
|
Post-print |
A manuscript draft after it has been peer-reviewed but not yet published; also known as 'author's accepted manuscript' (see entry above) or 'accepted author version'. |
|
Pre-print |
A manuscript draft that has not yet been subject to formal peer review, usually distributed to receive early feedback on research from peers; also known as 'submitted version'. |
|
Publisher's version |
Final version of a manuscript as it appears in the journal after peer review and processing by a publisher, also known as 'version of record'. |
|
Subscription model |
Business model whereby a fee is paid in order to gain access to scholarly research outputs, usually journals. |
|
Version of record |
Final version of a manuscript as it appears in the journal, after peer-review and processing by a publisher; also known as 'publisher's version'. |
SOURCE Adapted from: https://blogs.egu.eu/network/palaeoblog/files/2015/02/OpenGlossary1.pdf
Licence your research outputs and make them open access with an appropriate Creative Commons licence. Creative Commons licences facilitate access to and use of copyright works. There are a range of Creative Commons licences which are suitable for research outputs.
* Avondale researchers should ensure they review their copyright transfer agreements and consider their author rights prior to publication.
Open Access Australasia
A fact sheet addressing open licenses with a specific focus on the Creative Commons licenses.
Know Your Rights: Understanding CC Licences
Creative Commons Australia
A reference table outlining the various Creative Commons licences, conditions, and what authors and users can do under those licences.
Creative Commons Licence Chooser
Creative Commons
An interactive website that assists users to select the appropriate Creative Commons license for their work, based on a series of questions about how they want their work to be used and shared. The page also links to a beta version of the chooser tool, currently in testing.
Where possible, make sure your research and associated outputs, including data, have a persistent Digital Object Identifier (DOI). This will allow other researchers and users to find, cite and potentially reuse your research outputs. Publishers may already add a DOI at publication OR Avondale researchers can request the library to do this on your behalf.
Digital Object Identifier system
International DOI Foundation (IDF)
The website of the International DOI Foundation, including fact sheets, FAQs, resources and a DOI name resolver tool.
Making your research outputs openly accessible is key. You need to consider what type of open access is appropriate for your research outputs. Funder requirements may also contain guidance regarding the most appropriate type of open access (including the need to consider costs associated with some forms). Options for making your publications openly accessible include:
Publish in an open access journal (which may involve paying article processing charges)
Publish open access in a hybrid journal (which may involve paying article processing charges)
Make the author accepted manuscript version of your publication freely available through a repository.
Make use of Avondale University's Transformative (Read & Publish) Agreements with Springer Nature and Elsevier. These agreements allow publishing with no article processing charges. These agreements are capped providing an allowance of 3,511 Springer Nature articles and 13,610 Elsevier articles that can be published OA.
Tip 1: If you are planning to publish under a capped agreement, you may want to aim for earlier in the year rather than later.
Tip 2: If the journal you want to publish in isn’t covered by your institution’s agreements, ask your co-authors to check if it is covered by theirs. Different institutions have different agreements.
What are the Different Types of Open Access?
Open Access Australasia
Describes the different types of open access, providing links to examples of some of the types.
Open access journals provide free online access to the full content of the journal. Publishing in an open access journal may incur article processing charges (APCs), which can vary considerably between journals. This is referred to as gold open access publishing.
Open Access Journal Publishing
Open Access Australasia
Infographic style fact sheet providing an overview of open access journal publishing.
Directory of Open Access Journals
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
An independent database containing over 16,500 peer-reviewed open access journals covering all areas of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, arts and humanities.
Directory of Open Access Books
Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)
A community-driven discovery service that indexes and provides access to scholarly, peer-reviewed open access books and helps users to find trusted open access book publishers. All DOAB services are free of charge and all data is freely available.
What are Article Processing Charges?
Open Access Australasia
A brief explanation of article processing charges and who pays them.
A list of open access journals (and their metrics) that may incur article processing charges
Jisc
Sherpa Romeo is an online resource that aggregates and analyses publisher open access policies from around the world and provides summaries of publisher copyright and open access archiving policies on a journal-by-journal basis.
Increase the visibility and accessibility of your research by depositing a publisher compliant version in a subject-based repository or an institutional repository. This is referred to as green open access publishing. Avondale University's Institutional Repository is Avondale Research
Open Access Australasia
A list of open repositories in Australia and New Zealand.
Predatory publishing is an exploitative academic publishing business model where publication fees are charged to authors without any peer review for quality and validity and without the provision of editorial and publishing services. Avondale researchers must evaluate journals and publishers before submitting their work. Ask peers and colleagues about their experiences with a publisher and investigate using the resources below.
Directory of Open Access Journals
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
An independent database containing over 16,500 peer-reviewed open access journals (some with no fees) covering all areas of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, arts and humanities.
Think. Check. Submit.
An international, cross-sector initiative offering a range of tools and practical resources to help researchers identify trusted journals and publishers for their research.
Avondale University acknowledges our Sovereign God as Creator and Provider of all things. We respectfully acknowledge the Awabakal and Darramuragal people as the traditional custodians of the lands on which we live, work, study and worship across our Lake Macquarie and Sydney campuses. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and extend that respect to all First Nations People.
Avondale University is a member of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist system of universities and colleges.
CRICOS Provider No.: 02731D. RTO: 91191. TEQSA: PRV12015. ABN: 53 108 186 401.
© Avondale University Ltd 2025