Open Access: INFORMS Open Option | INFORMS PubsOnline Author Portal

Standard Publication (“Green” Open Access)

Authors publishing under standard publication agreements retain important rights to share and post their author accepted manuscripts (AAMs) without embargo in accordance with the INFORMS Author Posting & Sharing policy.

INFORMS Open Option (“Gold” Open Access)

Authors may elect to publish their accepted article open access through INFORMS Open Option. Articles published through IOO are made freely available online through INFORMS PubsOnline immediately upon publication and remain openly accessible in perpetuity.

Publication fees for INFORMS Open Option vary by journal. See each journal's submission guidelines for current pricing information.

Selection of IOO has no impact on editorial consideration, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication eligibility.

Authors may indicate their intent to participate in IOO during manuscript submission or revision, but the final decision to participate may be made any time prior to publication.

Authors will not be invoiced for the IOO publication fee until after acceptance of the manuscript. Payment of the IOO fee must be completed before the article can be published open access.

Participation in INFORMS Open Option does not modify or supersede INFORMS publication ethics; authorship; originality, attribution, and copyright (including plagiarism and related-work disclosure); research transparency; permissions; or post-publication correction policies.

Authors remain responsible for:

properly citing and disclosing related and previously published works,
complying with policies regarding concurrent or redundant publication,
obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted third-party material where required, and
clearly identifying any material for which copyright is held by another party.

Open access publication through IOO applies only to material for which the authors hold the necessary publication and licensing rights.

Third-party materials included in an open access article may remain subject to separate copyright restrictions, permissions, or reuse limitations. Such materials are not covered by the article's Creative Commons license unless expressly stated otherwise.

Authors electing to publish through INFORMS Open Option complete a publication license in lieu of a traditional copyright transfer agreement.

Under the publication license:

authors retain copyright in their work;
authors grant INFORMS a nonexclusive, irrevocable license to publish and distribute the article; and
the article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons license selected by the author.

INFORMS distributes open access articles through INFORMS PubsOnline, print and electronic publication formats, abstracting and indexing services, and authorized document-delivery and database services.

The selected Creative Commons license is displayed with the published article and embedded within the article metadata.

Creative Commons Licenses

INFORMS Open Option allows authors to select from the following Creative Commons licenses governing reuse of their published work. Authors are advised to confirm any license requirements associated with their research funding before selecting a license.

CC-BY (Attribution): Allows redistribution, adaptation, and commercial reuse as long as attribution is given to the author.
CC-BY-SA (Attribution-Share Alike): Allows redistribution, adaptation, and commercial reuse as long as attribution is given to the author and derivative works are licensed under identical terms.
CC-BY-NC (Attribution-Noncommercial): Allows redistribution and adaptation, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only.
CC-BY-NC-SA (Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike): Allows noncommercial redistribution and adaptation with attribution, provided derivative works are licensed under identical terms.
CC-BY-ND (Attribution-No Derivatives): Allows redistribution, including commercial redistribution, provided the work is unchanged and attribution is given.
CC-BY-NC-ND (Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives): Allows noncommercial redistribution only, provided the work is unchanged and attribution is given.

For complete license terms and additional information, please visit the Creative Commons website: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.

Publication Licenses

Authors publishing through INFORMS Open Option complete an Open Access Publication License instead of a copyright transfer agreement. The applicable publication licenses for INFORMS journals and book series may be downloaded below. Publication licenses may be completed and signed electronically.

Journals

Book Series

Tutorials in Operations Research

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I decide whether to participate in INFORMS Open Option?

Authors may indicate their intent to participate in IOO during manuscript submission and revision, but the decision to participate may be changed any time prior to publication. Selection of IOO has no effect on editorial consideration, peer review, or publication decisions.

Can the IOO fee be shared among coauthors or paid by an institution or funder?

Yes. INFORMS may invoice coauthors, institutions, employers, or funding organizations directly for all or part of the IOO publication fee. All invoice balances associated with an accepted article must be paid before the article can be published open access.

My article has already been published. Can it still be converted to open access?

Yes. Previously published articles may be converted retroactively to open access through INFORMS Open Option.

Because previously published articles were originally published under standard copyright transfer agreements and historical production processes vary, retroactive open access conversion may not alter the original published article files. However, INFORMS will update article metadata and access status to reflect the article's open access license and copyright status.

Please contact [email protected] for additional information regarding retroactive IOO conversion.

My funder requires a specific Creative Commons license. Can I comply through IOO?

Yes. INFORMS Open Option allows authors to select from among the available Creative Commons licenses, including CC-BY where required by funders or institutions.

Authors are responsible for confirming and complying with any applicable funder or institutional open access requirements.

I cannot participate in IOO but my funder requires public access or repository deposit. What are my options?

Authors publishing under standard publication agreements may post and share their author accepted manuscript (AAM) with immediate availability, without embargo in accordance with the INFORMS Author Posting & Sharing policy.

Some funders may require repository-deposited manuscripts to be distributed under specific Creative Commons licenses or public access conditions (for example, UKRI, Wellcome, and NIHR require the AAM to be made available under a CC-BY license no later than the date of first online publication). Authors are responsible for ensuring compliance with any applicable funder requirements.

Where can I find information regarding manuscript posting, repository deposit & reuse rights?

Please see the INFORMS Author Posting & Sharing policy for additional information regarding:

author accepted manuscripts (AAMs),
Just Accepted articles,
Articles in Advance,
repository deposit,
public access compliance, and
reuse and sharing rights.

Contact

For additional information regarding INFORMS Open Option, publication licenses, or open access publication, please contact [email protected].