Find Places to Publish: Types of Journals

Subscription Journals

This is the model on which most traditional journals are based.

• Publishing is mostly funded by subscriptions, and sometimes by commercial sponsorships and advertisements.
• Most people access them through their institutions which subscribe to them; apart from colleges and universities, these institutions could also include professional associations or societies. 

Anyone who wishes to re-print materials from such journals would normally have to get permission from the publishers.

Open Access Journals (OA)

These are journals that are freely accessible online. 

• Generally, authors who wish to publish in such journals are asked to pay an Article Publication Charge (APC), unless the journal is sponsored by a society or institution.
  • SMU Libraries has agreements with some OA publishers to pay the APC for you. Get more information here.
• Articles are available to a wider audience than those published in subscription journals.
• Authors who publish in OA journals generally retain their copyright. There are different types of licensing associated with OA journals, including Creative Commons licenses.

Traditional Journals with OA Options

Some traditional subscription journals give authors the option to choose whether they want their articles published OA. This is also known as "hybrid" publishing.

• If authors choose this publishing model, they will have to pay an article processing charge, which varies by publisher.
• SMU Libraries has agreements with some hybrid publishers to pay the APC for you. Get more information here.