Open Access Status Field

Open Access Status – The open-access status of the publication. This field is filled in automatically when Esploro retrieves information about a publication from Unpaywall by means of the OpenAlex API. This API is invoked when a publication with a DOI is imported into Esploro via Smart Harvesting, Smart Expansion via CSV, or auto-population when the publication is added manually to the database. It may also be invoked for other Smart Expansion and import profiles, as well as SWORD imports, depending on the system settings. By default, this field is blank, indicating that the publication's open-access status was not checked. If a value is selected, it indicates that the status was checked, as follows:

• Green – Publications that are published in toll-access journals, but archived in an open-access archive, or "repository." These repositories may be discipline-specific (like ArXiv) or institutional repositories operated by universities or other institutions. Green articles may be published versions or preprints and can have any license or no license.
• Hybrid – Publications that are free to read at the time of publication, with an open license. These are usually published in exchange for an article processing charge (APC).
• Gold – Publications that have the same characteristics as Hybrid publications, but are published in completely open-access journals (called "Gold journals" or "OA journals").
• Bronze – Publications that are free to read on the publisher's website, without a license that grants any other rights. There may be a delay between publication and availability to read, and articles with this status can be removed unilaterally by the publisher.
• Closed – Publications that are not open access.
• Unknown – This option should be selected by an operator who tried to find the status but did not succeed.

When a status of Gold, Hybrid, or Bronze is set for a publication during the import process, a link to the publication, based on its DOI, is included in the metadata of the publication.

When a status of Green is set during the import process, a link may or may not be included in the publication's metadata, depending on the value of the esploro_create_link_for_green_oa parameter. By default, this parameter is set to false, and a link is not created. If the parameter is set to true, a link is created, based on the link provided by OpenAlex. The value of this parameter can be set in the Customer Parameters table (Configuration menu > General > Institution Settings > Institution Settings; see Configuring Institution Settings).