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.

Contact: ScholarlyCommunications@usu.edu

Award Conditions:

• Funds not to exceed $1,500 per article will be available on a first-come-first-served basis.
• USU faculty as well as graduate 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 request a match from their department, college, or an outside granting agency (Including F&A funds). Without a match, full funding cannot be guaranteed.
• Application for funding may generally be completed at the time of submission or immediately upon an article’s acceptance for publication. 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 USU DigitalCommons.
• The Library may restrict individual authors to one award per year.

This policy has been drafted based on the Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity: http://www.oacompact.org/

The Digital Commons is USU’s institutional repository. It aims to capture, preserve, and promote the intellectual output of the university while making it freely available online. This is part of a world-wide effort to develop and share new knowledge.

What is Open Access?

Open Access is the free and open dissemination of scholarly articles, through the Internet, as a means to reach an author’s widest possible audience. In the digital age, no researcher's ability to conduct potentially world-changing research should be limited by his or her access to the research of others. When we publish our works in traditional journals, they often become locked behind expensive price barriers. These barriers can prevent our works from reaching the researchers who need them. Open Access is a way for us to share our works freely, thus helping to facilitate the world-wide advancement of knowledge.

What exactly is Policy 535?

Policy 535 helps researchers retain copyright on the articles they publish, and enables them to share those articles with a wider audience. Because individual employees grant a nonexclusive copyright on their articles to the University, Policy 535 harnesses the collective power of all of University employees to give individuals an advantage when negotiating publication agreements.

What is required of employees?

Policy 535 allows the Library to post the author’s version of a published article to the Digital Commons. This is usually the final peer-reviewed manuscript, without publisher branding or pagination.

I am very busy. How much time will this take?

This policy asks only that you investigate your rights through your publication agreement, then email a copy of your article to the Library, or email us for a waiver. We are always available to help interpret publication agreements, so essentially, this policy asks only that you send an email or two.

What if I forget to request a waiver?

Waivers can be obtained after your article has been published. If you have published an article, but are not sure if you have the right to submit it to the Digital Commons, simply contact us. We’ll investigate the rights you retain through your publication agreement.

What if I am a joint author?

If you are the corresponding author for your work, we ask that you read your publication agreement, or contact the Library for assistance, then either email a copy of your article to us, or request a waiver. If you are not the corresponding author, we ask that you work with your colleagues to ensure that your work reaches its widest possible audience by reading your publication agreement, and discussing USU’s OA Policy with them. If your coauthors do not wish to make your work Open Access, simply request a waiver.

What happens if I do not comply with Policy 535?

By not complying with Policy 535, you are ensuring that some researchers do not have access to your work. You may also surrender your rights to your own scholarly work. Additionally, by not submitting your work to the Digital Commons, you miss the opportunity to make your work highly visible in Google, Google Scholar, and other search engines, as well as missing out on download counts for your work.

Background and Resources

The rise of digital publication has ushered in an unprecedented era of collaboration, sharing, and availability of research. Indeed it has even made possible new ways of conducting research, the potentials of which are not yet fully realized.

In the digital age, we can reduce the costs of sharing our ideas by eliminating the materials, printing, and dissemination costs associated with physical journals. However, the prices of many journal subscriptions continue to increase dramatically. Often times, at several times the rate of inflation.

This situation creates a barrier between your published works and researchers – both stateside and overseas -- that may not have access to pricy journal subscriptions. This barrier not only effectively limits the audience for your scholarly works, but it impedes the developing culture of research which rewards collaboration and utilizes research methods dependent on open access to previous research via the internet.

When you publish your work with a traditional publisher, read the publication agreement. Does the publisher require you to transfer your exclusive rights under copyright to them? If so, you may not be legally permitted to share your work with colleagues or students, or post it to your personal website or an institutional repository such as USU’s Digital Commons. Adopting an institutional Open Access Policy, such as USU’s Policy 535, can be an effective response to this situation.

In 2008, Harvard University became the first US institution to pass an Open Access Policy, similar to our Policy 535. This policy joined many European Institutions in requiring faculty to deposit their works in an open institutional repository, and in sharing a nonexclusive copyright to their works with the University. Harvard’s policy was adopted to promote free and open communication and ideas, to resist a publishing industry that erects barriers between scholars and the research they need, and to share the intellectual wealth of the institution with the world.

As the land grant institution of the state of Utah, and as a major research university, USU supports these goals. As such, we have joined a growing body of US institutions, and become a leader among public institutions, in adopting an Open Access Policy. This policy has been designed to interfere as little as possible with your existing publication, while maximizing the impact of your research through Open Access dissemination. Please see the procedures page for more information, or follow the links below for additional background information.

Additional Resources:

Information on the SPARC Author's Rights Addendum

Home of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition

USU's Open Access Week website

USU's Scholarly Communication LibGuide

Information on the Budapest Open Access Initiative

Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities

Policy 535 Open Access Procedures

1.

Read the copyright agreement your publisher has asked you to sign. Most publishers require you to transfer some, if not all, of your copyright to your scholarly works. However, this might prevent your work from reaching its widest possible audience.

If your publisher allows you to deposit an author’s or publisher’s version of your work in USU’s Open Access Institutional Repository, simply email your article to the Library’s Scholarly Communications Office. We’ll take care of the rest.

Not sure if your publisher allows you to deposit an author’s or publisher’s version of your work in USU’s Open Access Institutional Repository? Ask us and we’ll find out for you.

2.

If the publisher expects you to surrender your copyright, inform them that you have a prior agreement with USU, under which both you and the University have the right to ensure that your work reaches its widest possible audience. This will be accomplished primarily through deposit in the University’s Open Access Institutional Repository. Moreover, this agreement secures your right to post your article on your personal website, create derivative works, share it with students and colleagues, etc.

Informing your publisher of this type of agreement is easy. To do so, write: “Subject to the attached addendum” under your signature on your publication agreement. Then, download, sign and attach the provided online addendum.

3.

If the publisher agrees to the addendum, simply email your article to the Library’s Scholarly Communications Office.

4.

If the publisher does not agree and you wish to continue with the publication process thus surrendering your copyright to your work, simply email the bibliographic citation of the article to the Library’s Scholarly Communication Office, and you will automatically be granted a waiver of Policy 535.