Many funders, including the Research Council of Finland and European research funders, expect the publications produced in projects to be open access. The use of open publication channels must usually be indicated already in the publication plan. For funding to be granted, applicants may be required to publish their research results as open access.
In some cases, self-archiving in the organisation’s repository is the easiest and the only available alternative to researchers for open publishing. Moreover, it is always a free option. At the University of Helsinki, publications are archived in the digital repository Helda through the research information database. Researchers can also use library´s self-archiving service.
Open publications are referenced more frequently and are accessible to all, meaning that your research results are distributed more widely and can inspire broader discussion in the academic community and society at large. Several studies indicate that open publishing boosts the visibility and impact of researchers.
You must either
Self-archiving (green open access) means making a copy of your work openly accessible in a repository, which is usually the digital repository of your institution or organisation.
Most publishers allow the final version of a peer-reviewed manuscript submitted to the publisher (final draft, post print, AAM) to be deposited in the organisation's repository.
Always check the relevant policy in Sherpa Romeo or from the publisher. Alternatively, the library can handle the archiving and review the policies on your behalf. In this case, please send your file to our service address or contact us at openaccess-info@helsinki.fi.
According to the University’s principles of open publishing:
Most publishers allow the final version of a peer-reviewed manuscript submitted to the publisher (final draft, AAM) to be deposited in the repository. Since publishers may follow different policies, you should always consult Sherpa Romeo or the publisher for the exact details. Further information about different versions of publications is available in the open access guide.
You can submit your publication to the library for self-archiving, in which case the library will determine the correct version for you. Submit your file or request further information at openaccess@helsinki.fi.
Citations accumulate in accordance with normal citation conventions, depending on whether the citation refers to the self-archived version or the publisher’s original version. Many publishers expect citations to be made to the original publication and have drawn up specific guidelines to this effect. Whenever possible, use the digital DOI-identifier of the original publication.
Citation rights to a work require citations to be made to the original work and author. According to the prevailing academic conventions, citations should refer to original publications. In self-archived versions, the publication details or content may be incomplete. For example, page numbers or images may not be in place.
However, the good online accessibility and availability of self-archived versions helps an increasing number of information seekers find the original source.
An embargo is a period of delay after the publication of the original work, determined by the publisher, during which a self-archived version may not be made available to the public. However, the work can be deposited in the repository as a restricted version, which will become openly available once the embargo ends.
Self-archiving, which means making a full-text file of your publication available with the details about the publication, is easiest to carry out when entering the publication’s details in the research database. You can log in to the research database using your University user account at: https://tuhat.helsinki.fi/.
Further instructions are available in the open access guide.
The goal is to provide open publications produced at the University with a permanent location and URL, making them easy to find.
The TUHAT research database also serves as a showcase for the University’s publications. In addition, the information is regularly used in the University’s own reports and in reports submitted to the Minsitry of Education and Culture. Information concerning openness is retrieved from the research database and entered into systems that produce national and international research information knowledge.
Articles published in open access journals are self-archived in the University of Helsinki’s repository to ensure their long-term storage and continued openness, for example, should the original journal be discontinued. In addition, publications that have received, for example, ERC funding from the EU or the Research Council of Finland funding, are required to be made openly available in a repository even if the original publication channel is not open.
Open publications are retrieved from the repository into national and international portals. Self-archiving also enables data mining. Texts dealing with a specific topic can be searched from large bodies of text, such as OpenAIRE, a joint database of EU Member States.
The research database also showcases the University’s publications.
License requirements must be determined directly from the publisher. Publishers do not necessarily share or provide information about licences (e.g., CC licenses) on their website. The requirements may also differ for works, chapters, journals or articles. In CC licensing the copyright of the work remain with the author.
You do not need to personally self-archive your publications in the University’s repository. The library transfers most of the documents directly from various databases.
However, some of the publications cannot be acquired online or from databases, and in these cases, the author’s approved manuscript is required. Even these cases do not require you to personally archive the document. Instead, you can use the library’s self-archiving service.
You can email the final peer-reviewed manuscript submitted to the publisher for self-archiving by the library to openaccess@helsinki.fi.
At the library, we will check the version and determine the publication rights. If you are unsure of the version that you are allowed to deposit and the time of deposit, send us all the versions in your possession.
If you have received funding from the Academy of Finland (2021 onward), please indicate this in your message too.
You can submit parts of your publication (e.g., text, images and tables) as separate files for archiving. Send them to the self-archiving service: openaccess@helsinki.fi.
You can store the data or metadata related to your publication in a discipline-specific or general FAIR-compliant data repository, such as Zenodo. The goal of the FAIR principles is to ensure that data are findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. Re2data service you can search the right repository for your data type.
When publishing data, you should take into account data ownership, confidentiality and sensitivity early on during the planning stage. For example, even if a set of data cannot be published due to its sensitivity, the publication of the related metadata is often permitted. The research publication must include a mention of the storage location of any research data or metadata, as well as of the rights for reuse.
Successful data management begins from the outset of the project and continues after the project's completion. The University’s data management web pages contain useful information related to data management. You can also contact University of Helsinki Data Support: datasupport@helsinki.fi
Yes they do. For funding to be granted, applicants may be required to publish the research results as open access. In some cases, self-archiving is the best way to ensure open publishing. The use of open publication channels must usually be stated in the publication plan, in which you can mention that the publications will be deposited in Helda, the University of Helsinki’s open digital repository.
Find more information about funders´policies in Open Access guide.
You can check from Tuhat database which publications are not yet self-archived. See the guidance video on Unitube: How to filter publications without files and to save that filter.
If you haven´t save final draft version (usually AAM), you can always ask it from the co-authors of the article. In most cases, you can also load it from the publisher´s submitting services such as Scholar one or Manuscript central.
Helsinki University Library aims to make research publications in all disciplines openly available in the research portal in a timely and comprehensive manner, and in the University’s publication repository, where they are readily available.
As a rule, the Library will self-archive research publications by members of the University community in order to make researchers' work easier. Researchers may also independently self-archive their work through the research information system. The Library provides information and support and actively develops its self-archiving processes.
Open access to publications serves research, teaching and the whole of society. By self-archiving publications of scholars at the University, the Library promotes an open-access publishing culture. Open access to research-based information realises the values of the University: truth, Bildung, freedom and inclusivity.
* Self-archiving refers to the open access storage of a publication in an organisation’s publication archive in compliance with the terms of the publisher.