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 is that they publish peer-reviewed articles reporting on the results of research across all disciplines. They often contain other material, including reviews, news, and correspondence.

They are published by a wide range of publishers: large commercial organisations such as Elsevier, Springer and Wiley-Blackwell; learned societies such as the Biochemical Society or the Royal Geographical Society in the UK, or the American Institute of Physics in the US; and university presses including Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. Journals owned by learned societies may be published on their own account or on their behalf by commercial, university press or other learned society publishers.

The main business models for journal publishers are


 * subscription-based, where revenues come mainly in the form of payments from libraries for licences to gain access via the publisher’s platform
 * open access, where revenues come mainly in the form of article processing or publishing charges (APCs) paid by or on behalf of authors. But some open access journals are supported by grants or by voluntary efforts, and charge no fee
 * hybrid, where journals that operate under the subscription-based model provide an option for open access publication upon payment of an APC, in which case the article will be made openly accessible, free of charge, immediately upon publication.

Open Access

There are a number of interlocking strands to the open access movement:


 * access without payment to a version of a publication via a repository, often after an embargo period. This strand is often called green open access
 * access without payment to the version of record of a publication via the publisher’s own platform. This strand is often called gold open access
 * the removal of the payment barrier, so that users have a right to read some version of an article. This is often called gratis open access
 * the removal of most if not all of the restrictions on the use and re-use of articles. This is often called libre open access.

These strands are not distinct, and they can interlock in various ways: thus versions of the articles available on publishers’ platforms may also be accessible via one or more repositories.

Versions of articles

As an article proceeds through drafts from the authors to publication, it goes through a number of versions. The National Information Standards Organisation in the US, and the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers have set a standard nomenclature for these versions


 * Author’s Original: any version of a journal article that is considered by the author to be of sufficient quality to be submitted for formal peer review by a second party.


 * Submitted Manuscript Under Review: any version of a journal article that is under formal review managed by a recognized publishing entity. The entity recognizes its responsibility to provide objective expert review and feedback to the author, and,