Emory's Open Access Publishing Fund

Emory University's Open Access Publishing Fund provides funds to make it easier for Emory authors to publish in open access (OA) journals and books when no alternative funding is available. The goal is to foster the exploration of new and innovative publishing models across research communities. For the purposes of this fund, we adhere to SPARC’s definition of Open Access, which states that “Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of high-quality, peer-reviewed research results.”

Emory joins other universities in the United States and Europe in offering its authors a fund to assist with publication charges for OA journals and books.

Emory University researchers may apply for the Open Access Publishing Fund by filling out an Open Access Publishing Fund Request. Please see our funding guidelines below.

Guidelines

Who is eligible to receive funds?

Current Emory University faculty, post-docs, researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students are eligible to apply. Excluded from eligibility are adjunct/visiting faculty or alumni without an eligible Emory co-author.

Due to limited funds, each author is limited to one reimbursement per fiscal year.

Any open access article or book published with support from this fund must be submitted to OpenEmory, an open access repository of scholarly works.

What publication venues are eligible? 

For the purposes of this fund, we adhere to SPARC’s definition of Open Access, which states that “Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of high-quality, peer-reviewed research results.”

The article or book must be published with an open access publisher that does not charge for access to the publication. To be eligible, publishers must

This fund does not support the “hybrid” publication model, in which some content is available for a fee and some content available open access. Additionally, articles and books must be fully available open access at the time of publication.

Currently, the major open access publishers BioMed Central, Public Library of Science (PLoS), and Hindawi meet these requirements, as do many other smaller open access publishers.

What fees can the fund reimburse? 

Funds are awarded on a first come, first serve basis. The maximum reimbursement is $1,500 per article or book.

Funds may be used for open access publishing and processing fees, including open access page charges.

Funds may not be used for translation, reprints, color illustration fees, non-OA page charges, permissions fees, web hosting for self-archiving, or other expenses not directly related to open access fees.

What if I have data to publish too? 

Emory's Research Data site has helpful information on this topic. Here, you can find help with selecting an appropriate repository external to Emory to deposit and share your research data. You can also find information about our own internal data repository, Dataverse at Emory.

What if the research was grant-funded? 

The Open Access Publishing Fund is a fund of last resort. Articles or books for which alternative funding is available are not eligible. This includes articles reporting research funded by a gift or grant from

  • A granting agency (i.e., NIH),
  • A foundation (i.e., NSF), or
  • Another institution (including Emory itself)

that allows grant funds to be used for open access publishing fees.

This policy applies whether or not the particular grant had budgeted for such fees.

How do I apply for funds? 

Complete an Open Access Fund Request.

At what point in the publication process should I apply for funds? 

You may apply for funds at any stage of the publication process.

If you have not yet been accepted for publication when you apply, your request may be conditionally approved pending acceptance. Conditional approvals expire either 6 months after the date of the funding request or at the end of the fiscal year.

After expiration, you are welcome to reapply.

PeerJ 

Emory has established an institutional membership with PeerJ, an open access journal focusing on the biological and medical sciences. Emory will pay the cost of a Basic PeerJ publication plan for each Emory author on a paper that is accepted for publication in PeerJ. This PeerJ Basic plan remains yours for life, even if you leave Emory.

Please see the Emory page at PeerJ for more information and contact the Scholarly Communications Office with questions.

Administration of the Fund 

The Scholarly Communications Office of the Emory University Libraries administers this fund. The fund is evaluated and allocated each fiscal year. If sufficient funding is not available, it will be announced on this page.

The parameters of reimbursement may be changed as appropriate with the advice and counsel of the University Senate's Library Policy Committee.