Utah State University Libraries Program to Support Open Access Publishing
To apply for funding please click the "Link to Full Text" above. Contact ScholarlyCommunications@usu.edu for more information or questions.
In harmony with its land grant mission, Utah State University is committed to the open access (OA) dissemination of research. Policy 586, “Open Access to Scholarly Articles” ensures that authors retain some copyright to their articles published in traditional journals. However, USU also recognizes the important role fully open-access journals play in the changing landscape of scholarly communication, as well as the economic realities authors face in choosing to make their works fully OA.
In the spirit of the Compact for Open Access Publishing (COPE), USU Libraries recognizes “the need for a stable source of funding for publishers who choose to provide open access to their journals’ contents.” To concretely support fully Open Access publishers that require a steady funding source to continue to provide their essential functions, the USU Libraries has committed to seeding a fund to underwrite the journal processing fees of USU authors who choose to publish their research articles in peer-reviewed, reputable open access journals. Only USU authors are eligible for funding. This program will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
Fully open access journals, which make their publication fee schedule publicly available and are members of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, are helping change the landscape of scholarly communication. USU Libraries is committed to supporting this effort. Examples of open-access journals can be found in the Directory of Open Access Journals.
Award Conditions:
- Application for funding must be completed at the time of submission or immediately upon an article’s acceptance for publication.
- Awards are limited to $1,500 per article and are available on a first-come-first-served basis.
- USU faculty and students in all disciplines are eligible to apply. In the case of an article coauthored by USU authors in collaboration with colleagues not associated with USU, the USU authors may be eligible for prorated funding of the article.
- Only fully Open Access Journals will be eligible for funding. Hybrid journals are excluded.
- Authors must offer a match from their department, college, or an outside granting agency (Including F&A funds). Without a match, full funding cannot be guaranteed.
- In the case of PeerJ or similar membership-based fee structures, the application may only be submitted on acceptance.
- Authors must deposit a copy of the funded article in the DigitalCommons@USU.
- The Library may restrict individual authors to one award per year.
This policy is based on the Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity: http://www.oacompact.org/.