What is an embargo period?

An embargo period is a period required by a journal's publisher during which the accepted version of an article may be deposited in an institutional repository but cannot yet be made publicly accessible.

The principle is that the journal wants to ensure that the article is primarily read through the journal itself, and therefore via individual or institutional subscription.

The publisher authorises the release of the Author Accepted Manuscript in the institutional repository after a defined period running from the date of publication: 6, 12, or 18 months after that date. Some journals allow immediate access from the date of publication and therefore do not apply an embargo to those publications.

NB: The SNSF tolerates Green route publication only for articles that have no embargo.