Green open access is the process of archiving a copy of an accepted manuscript* on an institutional or subject repository in parallel to publishing with IOP Publishing. IOP Publishing believes that gold open access is the most sustainable route to open access but provides green open access options to those authors wanting or needing to share their work in this way.  

Posting the accepted manuscript :
On a personal website	On an institutional / subject repository
Immediate posting allowed	No earlier than 12 months after publication of the final article

IOP Publishing allows authors of articles published on a subscription basis to post an accepted manuscript as follows:  

 Subscription-based journals require the embargo period because immediate free availability of peer-reviewed articles in repositories removes the publisher’s means of covering its costs of operation. For full details on your rights as an author of a subscription-based article, including full details on how and when you can share the accepted manuscript, please refer to our Author Rights Policy (or the relevant partner specific policy, if you have published with one of our society partners).  

Authors publishing an article on a gold open access basis can post the accepted manuscript on a repository immediately if required.  

IOP Publishing will deposit gold open access articles in PubMed Central automatically when funded by one of the following research funding bodies:  

• National Institutes of Health;  

• Wellcome Trust; 

• Arthritis Research UK; 

• Bloodwise; 

• British Heart Foundation; 

• Cancer Research UK; 

• Parkinson’s UK.  

 Authors may be permitted to opt out of an institutional open access policy. Further information on obtaining a waiver from an institutional open access policy can be found here.  

 IOP Publishing supports the sharing of preprints. View our preprint policy.  

  

*The accepted manuscript is ‘the version of the article accepted for publication including all changes made as a result of the peer review process, and which may also include the addition to the article by IOP Publishing of a header, an article ID, a cover sheet and/or an ‘accepted manuscript’ watermark, but excluding any other editing, typesetting or other changes made by IOP Publishing and/or its licensors’.  

Some universities and institutions  have adopted open access policies, which, in some respects, are incompatible with IOP Publishing’s green open access policy which applies when the article is published on a subscription basis. Please check whether you or any of your co-author(s) are affiliated to a university or institution which has an open access policy which is incompatible with IOP Publishing’s green open access policy. If you are, then we will need you to obtain a waiver for the article from your institution or university. Institutions allow for such waivers in their policies. Institutions with such policies are predominantly in the USA.

For examples of open access policies which are incompatible with IOP Publishing’s green open access policy, see below.

One submission. A seamless transfer path

If your article isn’t the right fit for one journal, a transfer can help keep your manuscript moving towards publication.

Sometimes a manuscript may not be the best fit for the journal it was originally submitted to. When this happens, our expert in-house Editors can recommend another IOP Publishing journal that may be a better match for your research.

Through our article transfer service, you can move your submission to a suitable journal without having to start the submission process again.

Why accept a transfer offer?

• Save time – There is no need to prepare a new submission. We transfer your manuscript and submission details on your behalf, helping you move quickly to the next stage of consideration.
• Keep the momentum – Where reviewer reports are already available, they can be transferred with your manuscript. This means the Editor may be able to use existing feedback rather than starting the review process from the beginning.
• Reduce the burden on reviewers – By transferring reviewer reports alongside your manuscript, we can make the most of feedback that has already been provided. This helps avoid unnecessary repeat reviews and supports a more efficient peer review process.
• Benefit from more publication opportunities – In some cases, our Editors may recommend more than one suitable journal for your article, giving you a choice of publication routes and helping you find the best home for your research.
• Benefit from expert guidance – Our Editors understand the scope and requirements of every IOP Publishing journal. A transfer is only offered when we believe your article has strong potential to be considered by another journal in our portfolio.
• Stay in control – Accepting a transfer is entirely your choice. If you decide not to proceed, you are free to submit your article elsewhere.

What happens next?

1. Review the recommended journal – Your transfer offer will include details of the journal or journals suggested by our Editors. We recommend reviewing the journal’s aims and scope before making your decision.
2. Accept the transfer – If you choose to proceed, your manuscript, submission files and any reviewer reports will be transferred for you. No resubmission is required.
3. Editorial assessment – The receiving journal’s Editor will assess your manuscript and decide the most appropriate next step. Depending on the stage your paper has reached, they may:
   • send the manuscript for peer review
   • invite revisions based on existing reviewer comments
4. Final decision – Once any required reviews or revisions have been completed, the Editor will make a decision on your manuscript.
   It’s important to note: a transfer is not a guarantee of acceptance. The Editor on the new journal may decide that the article needs further rounds of review to ensure suitability for the journal.

Journal transfer FAQs

Will I need to submit my manuscript again?

No. Once you accept a transfer offer, your manuscript files and key submission information are transferred directly to the receiving journal. This means you can continue the publication journey without starting a new submission from scratch.

How quickly will my transfer be processed?

Transfers are designed to minimise delays. Your files and submission details are transferred directly between journals, helping your manuscript move smoothly to the next stage of assessment.

Will I need to make revisions before transfer?

No, your manuscript will be transferred in its current form. If revisions are required, or were suggested by reviewers, the receiving journal will return your manuscript to you for you to make the necessary changes.

Can reviewer reports be transferred?

Yes. Where reviewer reports are available and appropriate to share, they will be transferred alongside your manuscript. This can help the receiving journal assess your work more efficiently and may reduce unnecessary duplication of peer review.

Does accepting a transfer guarantee publication?

No. While a transfer offer indicates that editors believe your research could be a good fit for another IOP Publishing journal, all manuscripts are assessed according to the receiving journal’s editorial policies and peer review requirements.

Why was my manuscript offered a transfer?

A transfer is recommended when editors believe your research may be better suited to another journal within the IOP Publishing portfolio. The aim is to help you find the most appropriate home for your work and maximise its publication potential.

Can I choose not to transfer?

Absolutely. Accepting a transfer is entirely your decision. If you prefer not to proceed, you are free to submit your manuscript to another journal of your choice.

Will the receiving journal have a different scope or audience?

Potentially. The recommended journal may target a different research community, subject area or audience that is better aligned with your work.

For more information on copyright and open access licensing, refer to our open access rights and licence information page.

Reprints of a journal article can be purchased directly from the article abstract page in IOPscience, via the ‘Buy this article in print’ link within the Article information section (circled in red in the screenshot). For orders in excess of 250 copies, please email pod@ioppublishingpublishing.org.

To create a DOI link, add the DOI of the article (located alongside the citation information) to the following url: https://doi.org/.  For example, an article with the doi 10.1088/1367-2630/1/1/001 could be found at https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/1/1/001.

Yes. Authors retain copyright in any supplementary material, granting IOP a non-exclusive licence to reproduce it. You may reuse supplementary material to which you own the rights.

Once you have sent your proof corrections, they will be carried out in accordance with the journal style. The paper will then be published online as quickly as possible, typically around a week after the corrections have been received. For journals that are printed, print publication may not happen for some time depending on the frequency of the journal. You will be informed by email when your paper is published online and invited to provide feedback on the publication process via a survey.

The published article has both HTML and PDF versions. As with the proof, there may be cosmetic differences between the two versions, such as figure position and the font used for mathematics, although the content itself will be the same.

For articles published under a CC BY-NC-SA licence, you—in common with all third parties—may reuse the article for non-commercial purposes only and may post the article to non-commercial repositories and non-commercial websites so long as you include attribution to the authors and the journal citation, indicate if changes were made and distribute the article under the same CC BY-NC-SA licence. For full licence terms and attribution requirements, please refer to the CC BY-NC-SA licence on the Creative Commons website.