Open Access (OA) & Self-Archiving Policy

This policy applies to the ESS Press book line: books, monographs, chapters, and conference proceedings. Journal articles are governed by the OA and self-archiving rules published on the respective journals’ websites.

1) Purpose and scope

1.1. This policy defines (a) the Open Access routes supported by ESS Press, (b) conditions for lawful self-archiving (Green OA), and (c) requirements for attribution, versioning, and metadata links for ESS Press publications.

1.2. The policy applies to all ESS Press publications in book formats (including individual chapters where DOIs are assigned).

1.3. Where an individual agreement (License to Publish / Author Agreement) specifies different terms, the agreement prevails.

2) Definitions (versions)

Preprint — a manuscript version prior to peer review.

AAM (Accepted Author Manuscript) — the final author version after peer review and acceptance, before publisher copyediting/typesetting.

VoR (Version of Record) — the final published version (publisher-formatted PDF/EPUB/print and the official online version), including identifiers (ISBN/DOI) and final metadata.

3) Open Access routes supported by ESS Press

3.1. Gold OA (Publisher-hosted OA). The VoR is made openly available on the ESS Press platform immediately upon publication under a Creative Commons license (default: CC BY 4.0, unless otherwise agreed).

3.2. Green OA (Self-archiving). Authors may deposit permitted versions in repositories and on personal/affiliation webpages under the conditions set out in Section 4.

3.3. Hybrid and journal-specific models. For journals under service, OA routes, fees, waivers, and repository conditions are defined by the journals’ own policies.

4) Self-archiving (Green OA): permitted versions and conditions

4.1 Permitted deposits

  1. a) Preprints: permitted.
  2. b) AAM: permitted.
  3. c) VoR: permitted only if the Work is published as OA under a CC license, or if the individual agreement explicitly allows VoR deposit for non-OA works.

4.2 Where authors may deposit

Accepted locations include:

  • institutional repositories (universities, research organizations);
  • disciplinary repositories;
  • personal websites and affiliation pages;
  • non-commercial scholarly networking pages where repository-type access is supported.

Posting to platforms that materially restrict discoverability, alter the content, or remove identifiers/attribution is not considered compliant self-archiving.

4.3 Mandatory attribution and linking

Any deposited version must include:

  • full bibliographic reference (authors, title, publisher, year);
  • DOI/ISBN (as applicable);
  • link to the ESS Press landing page of the VoR;
  • an explicit version statement (Preprint / AAM / VoR);
  • the applicable license statement (for OA content).

Required notices:

For AAM:
“This is an Accepted Author Manuscript (AAM). The Version of Record is available at: [DOI/URL].”

For Preprint:
“This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. If accepted, the Version of Record will be available at: [DOI/URL] (to be added upon publication).”

4.4 Embargoes

4.4.1. Default: no embargo for Preprints and AAM for the ESS Press book line, unless restricted by the individual agreement or third-party rights.

4.4.2. Any embargo (if applicable) must be stated explicitly in the agreement and on the publication webpage.

4.5 Integrity of the scholarly record (what must not change)

Deposited copies must:

  • preserve the meaning of the text and data (no substantive alterations that create a “new” version);
  • keep figures/tables/captions consistent with the deposited version;
  • clearly mark any post-deposit corrections as an updated file, with a date and rationale.

Where the VoR is corrected (erratum/corrigendum), authors should update repository metadata and links to reflect the corrected VoR.

5) Licensing

5.1. For Gold OA, the VoR is published under a Creative Commons license stated in the Work and on its landing page (default: CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise agreed).

5.2. For Green OA deposits, the deposited version may be made available under:

  • the same CC license as the VoR (for OA works); or
  • a repository-default license where consistent with the Author Agreement and provided it does not contradict the rights of co-authors and third-party rights holders.

5.3. Third-party materials embedded in the Work may be subject to separate rights. Authors must ensure that deposited versions comply with permissions and compatible licenses.

6) Metadata, identifiers, and discoverability

6.1. ESS Press assigns ISBN/DOI (and chapter DOIs where applicable). Authors must retain identifiers and links in deposited versions.

6.2. Metadata may be disseminated openly (including to indexing services and repositories) to maximize discoverability and citation tracking.

6.3. Where repositories support it, authors should add ORCID iDs, funding information, and keywords consistent with the VoR metadata.

7) Text and Data Mining (TDM)

7.1. For OA works published under CC BY, TDM is permitted provided that attribution and the DOI/ISBN are maintained.

7.2. For non-OA works, any automated harvesting beyond standard indexing should be coordinated with ESS Press, subject to the Author Agreement and access conditions.

8) Compliance, questions, and exceptions

8.1. ESS Press may request corrections to repository records where deposited versions omit the DOI/ISBN, lack a version statement, or create confusion about the VoR.

8.2. Exceptions (e.g., funder mandates, institutional policies, legal constraints, sensitive data) are handled case-by-case and must be reflected in the Author Agreement.

Contacts

Questions about OA routes, Creative Commons licensing, repository deposits, embargoes, and version statements should be sent to: policies@ess.press