There is increasing emphasis put on the researcher to anticipate and/or plan for any funder or publisher requirements about open access publishing early in the research process. Knowing your choices early on in the research process can save you time, stress and money! Starting from open access-related considerations in data management plans, learn what open access choices are available, including journals, repositories and others; make practical and impactful choices for your research; and understand the issues there may be in navigating journal publishing stipulations and open access requirements.