Campus boosts support for Open Access Publishing Fund

Campus boosts support for Open Access Publishing Fund

In a unified show of support for open access—the movement to make information freely available online—the campus community will provide financial assistance to university faculty members and researchers who publish in open access journals.

By contributing to a fund established last year by the University Libraries, several campus units will increase the amount of funding available to help researchers cover the article-processing charges levied by peer-reviewed open access journals. The fee, otherwise paid by the researchers themselves, can be a costly disincentive to publishing in journals that are committed to publishing freely on the Internet.

The Office of the Provost, the Office of the Vice President for Research, and academic deans join the University Libraries in supporting the fund. Further, the Friends of Libraries—a fundraising group that supports library priorities—will also contribute to the effort.

Timed to recognize Open Access Week, an international celebration meant to draw attention to the movement, the announcement signals a new level of commitment to this purpose.

“I’m grateful to my colleagues and the university community for supporting this fund,” says Patricia Steele, Dean of University Libraries. “Libraries have long been champions of open access, but it requires many partners to make real headway.”

The fund, established by the University Libraries in 2013, supported 13 applications for a total of $17,000. It was established as a recommendation of the Report of the Joint Provost/Senate Open Access Task Force.

October 28, 2014