How to Find eResources

Directories provide the means to browse various open access resources. This includes institutional repositories, which may hold preprints or accepted manuscript versions of journal articles, along with dissertations and theses.

Open data "is available to anyone, and can be accessed, analysed and reused with minimal restrictions, in an open format that is easy to modify" (State Library of Victoria). Many governments and research institutions make their data publicly available online. Some examples are linked below.

Open Educational Resources (OER) are resources which have been made available for free, with licenses that allow use, reuse and adaptation with limited restrictions (if any). OER can include open textbooks and other teaching/learning resources such as worksheets, lesson plans, assessments, and supporting materials such as images or games.

Several Australian universities publish open textbooks online, with even more resources available globally.

Here are some open textbook platforms which have materials relevant to ACAP course offerings:

Here are some databases of additional OERs:

References

University of South Australia (2025, June 29). Find OER. Library. https://guides.library.unisa.edu.au/OER/find

You may encounter the following terms when looking for open access resources:

• Accepted version/author accepted manuscript/post-print: The final draft that has been approved by a publisher. It has already undergone peer review and editing, but might not be formatted, copyedited or typeset for publication. Publishers often allow authors to publish these versions, but there may be an embargo period before they are permitted to do so. In some cases, it may be identical, or very similar to, the version of record (James Cook University; Open Access Glossary).
• Preprint: Traditionally, an early version of an article published online prior to being published in a journal. Usually not peer-reviewed. However, some preprints these days may undergo peer review or may be the same as a later published version, if published in a journal at all (Open Access Oxford).
• Version of record: Usually, the final published version, after all edits, formatting and typesetting have been completed. This is often the publisher's final PDF, and in resources that are not open access, may have copyright restrictions (University of Melbourne Library; Confederation of Open Access Repositories).

You may also encounter different types of open access:

• "Green" open access: This typically means the author has self-archived a version of their published paper. For example, in a research repository or author website. The version of record is usually still behind a paywall.
• "Gold" open access: The resource is published specifically as an open resource. Typically, the author or their institution will pay the publisher an article processing charge.
• "Diamond" open access: The resource is published specifically as an open resource and there is no article processing charge. These publications are often community-driven and non-commercial (UNESCO).
• Hybrid journals: Subscription journals which offer authors an option to make their articles open access, usually by paying an article processing charge (Open Access Network Glossary).

For more information, you may like to read the Open Access Network Glossary or the Open Access Oxford Glossary. You may encounter disagreements on what terms mean, e.g. whether an open access article in a hybrid journal is considered "gold" open access or not.

Want to know more about running an open access journal? Check out the OA Journals Toolkit.