Open Access for Research

An introduction to Open Access and how to make your research open.

What are Author Accepted Manuscripts?

An author accepted manuscript (AAM's) is the final author-created version of the manuscript, which includes any changes made after peer-review and has been accepted for publication by the journal, but before the publisher's final copyediting, typesetting, and formatting.​ ​

CQU strongly encourages the depositing of your AAM into Research Elements where they may be made available on open access (depending on publisher policies) in aCQUIRe CQU's institutional repository.

Submitting your AAM is a quick, easy and free way to meet the green open access of funders requirements.

Authors Accepted Manuscript

What are the benefits of Author Accepted Manuscripts?

The benefits of depositing your AAM’s include:

  • No cost: There are no fees or charges associated with making your author accepted manuscript Green OA through aCQUIRe.

  • Greater exposure: By providing free access to your author accepted manuscript, you make your work more accessible and allow it to have greater exposure and impact.

  • Increased citations: Research released as Green OA benefits the most from the 'Open Access Citation Advantage' opens in a new window

Where do I find my Author Accepted Manuscript?

You should have retained a copy of your AAM as part of the publishing process. However, if you do not have a copy of your AAM, you can request a copy from the publisher using the following suggested wording:

“Could you please provide me with a copy of the revised, peer-reviewed personal version of the paper (the Author’s Accepted Manuscript, or post-print, version).”

If you are not the corresponding author, you should contact the corresponding author for a copy of the AAM in the first instance.

Author Accepted Manuscripts, copyright and publisher policies

You can check if you can deposit your author accepted manuscript without breaking publisher copyright and open access archiving policies in the following ways:

  • All author accepted manuscripts have a coversheet attached according to the publisher’s policy, and include the DOI where the published version can be found. This should outline publisher copyright and open access archiving policies.
     
  • SherpaRomeo opens in a new window is a website where you can enter the Journal’s title or Publisher to receive a summary of the publisher copyright and open access archiving policies.
     
  • If in doubt, contact the publisher directly to request clarification around their open access archiving policies when depositing into CQU’s institutional repository aCQUIRe

Depositing Author Accepted Manuscripts into Research Elements

CQU’s Open Access for Research Outputs Policy encourages the submission of the Author's Accepted Manuscript (AAM), using the File upload option available when depositing a Journal Article via Research Elements (RE).

When adding files to your journal article publication simply add the Author's Accepted Manuscript file and select the "Proof of commercial publisher" as the file type. Click done when completed.

Proof of commercial publisher file upload process

Frequently asked questions