Open access (OA) is the fastest-growing model being adopted by scholarly book publishers working today. Indeed, major funders like Wellcome Trust and UKRI are starting to require its implementation. By publishing a book as OA, authors can benefit from increased visibility, copyright control, immediate publication, and greater research impact. But there is not one universal kind of OA; different types offer authors different conditions. Therefore, authors need to know the strengths and limitations of these OA models to choose one right for their research goals.

Two of the most popular, but often misunderstood, types of OA are gold open access (gold OA) and green open access (green OA). In this article, we’ll compare gold OA vs green OA in the context of academic book publishing, exploring how they differ from their journal-specific counterpart models and what they mean in practice for scholarly book authors looking to publish today.

Academic book publishing: green open access vs gold open access

There is often misunderstanding surrounding green open access and gold open access. And this confusion is only emphasised in the lesser-established context of academic book publishing. Let’s clarify these two OA types.

Gold open access

In academic book publishing, gold open access is the predominant OA model. This is largely because it is the most practical and beneficial model for both publishers and authors.

Extensive book processing charges (BPCs) must be covered for a publisher to be able to publish a book as open access. These charges are typically met by the author’s institution or national funding bodies such as UKRI. BPCs are distinct from article processing charges (APCs), which are paid to cover the cost of publishing an open access journal article.

These two different types of charges differ greatly in cost and scale. APCs are generally lower in price, covering short-form peer review and light editing and proofing. BPCs tend to be significantly higher because they cover extensive peer review, heavy developmental editing and structural formatting, and more complex design elements.

For book authors, gold OA provides increased visibility and impact through global access. There is also no embargo period, meaning that research can be disseminated immediately, helping authors stay relevant in developing discourses.

Green open access

Green open access is the least common of the two types of OA. In academic book publishing, it involves authors self-archiving the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) into an institutional or digital repository. The AAM is the final peer-reviewed version of a research work that has not been formatted by the publisher.

Importantly, there are no BPCs required for publishing a book under green OA. Instead, authors should expect their work to undergo an embargo period before publication; this can be up to 12 months in some cases. Some publishers may charge for shorter embargo periods, but it is recommended to avoid such fees.

	Gold open access	Green open access	MDPI Books
Is publishing free?	No — book processing charge (BPC) required	Free (self-archiving)	BPC applies; wavers available
Is reading free?	Immediately and permanently	Often after an embargo period	Immediately and permanently
Who retains copyright?	Author (CC license)	Publisher (typically)	Author (CC BY)
Is it peer reviewed?	Yes, unless stated otherwise	Yes, unless stated otherwise	Yes, unless stated otherwise
Listed in DOAB?	Yes (if compliant)	Rarely	Yes
Funder mandate compliant?	Usually (Plan S, UKRI)	Depends on embargo length	Yes
Discoverability	High — indexed widely	Lower — limited repository reach	High — DOAB, OAPEN, metadata-rich

What do these models mean in practice for book authors?

The green vs gold open access debate exists because many authors are unsure about the realities of requirements under these OA models. Authors need to be aware of what these models mean in practice, and any accompanying limitations.

Green OA is a legitimate publishing route; authors (or their institutions) do not need to pay book processing charges to deposit their manuscript in a repository. This is beneficial for researchers from lower-income institutions in the Global South, for example, where resources are limited.

However, green OA has significant limitations vs gold OA when applied to the broader academic publishing landscape.

Readability

In terms of green OA and readability, readers must often wait for an embargo period to pass before being able to access your work.

Gold OA offers immediate global access to the reader, ensuring that audiences can engage with your work when it matters.

Discoverability

Institutional repositories are indexed by search engines like Google Scholar, but they have limited reach. Self-archived manuscripts are rarely indexed on databases such as the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB), significantly limiting discoverability.

Not only that, but there are other hidden costs of green OA in terms of discoverability. These include extra steps for the reader in navigating complex and unfamiliar interfaces, enduring workflow disruptions, and managing files and metadata.

Books published as gold OA are permanently hosted and easily discoverable on user-friendly online libraries and databases.

Copyright

When depositing in a repository through green OA, authors typically recede copyright to the publisher or institution.

With gold OA, authors retain full control of their intellectual property using a Creative Commons license such as CC BY.

Publishing with MDPI Books

Have a scholarly book that you want you want to reach a global audience? Publishing with MDPI Books today ensures that your research is immediately accessible under open licensing; easily discoverable through indexing in major databases like DOAB, Web of Science, and Scopus; and protected under flexible copyrighting.

MDPI Books supports researchers looking for a peer-reviewed monograph pathway. On this author support page, you’ll find more information on MDPI Books’ author focus and high-quality and rapid publication, book processing charges (and how to find funding), and submission guidelines for book manuscripts.

Already familiar with this information? Submit a book proposal to MDPI Books today.