UCSB Open Access Publishing Fund

The UCSB Open Access (OA) Publishing Fund is a UCSB Library Initiative to support UCSB authors who want to open their research to readers immediately upon publication.

  • The UCSB OA Fund differs from the University of California (UC) OA Publishing Agreements and Discounts. However, both funding models are in place to support UCSB authors publishing open access.
  • The University of California negotiates transformative agreements (TAs) and discounts with publishers to support UC authors publishing open access. 
  • The UCSB OA Fund supports authors who publish in fully open-access journals not covered under the UC OA Publishing Agreements and Discounts. 

If you have any questions or need additional information about the two funding models, please email openaccess@library.ucsb.edu.
 

The OA Fund is supported and administered by the UCSB Library. The purpose of the Fund is to cover the cost of APCs in open access journals so that no UCSB author who desires to publish open access is disadvantaged by the lack of funds to cover relevant fees. Funding open access publishing is a rapidly changing landscape.  Therefore, the Fund will be assessed annually for effectiveness, fairness, and sustainability.

The UCSB OA Fund supports the publication of articles in “gold OA” journals. Gold OA means that all articles are made freely available to the public immediately upon publication. To make articles freely accessible to all readers worldwide, many gold OA journals charge article (or author) processing charges (APCs). Those charges are eligible for reimbursement through the UCSB Open Access Publishing Fund.

Guidelines for the OA Publishing Fund

Who is eligible?

Any UCSB employee or currently enrolled student who is a corresponding author and has recently had an open access article or conference paper accepted for publication is eligible to apply for reimbursement of an APC. If the corresponding author is no longer affiliated with UCSB at the time of the paper’s acceptance, another UCSB author may be reimbursed for the APC. Authors will not be reimbursed for already published articles or conference papers.

What publication venues are eligible?

The publication venue must be a gold open access journal or conference proceeding. Publications must be made freely available at the time of initial publication without any embargo periods. Journals with a hybrid model (i.e., subscription journals with optional open access at the article level) are not eligible.  The final author version of articles and papers published in hybrid journals and proceedings may be uploaded to eScholarship.

To be eligible for reimbursement by the UCSB OA Fund, an article or conference paper must be published in a journal that meets these additional requirements. Please review the publisher's FAQ and policy pages, where necessary:

What fees will the Fund reimburse?

The Fund will reimburse the full article processing charge (APC). Page charges will be supported by the Open Access Publishing Fund only if the article or conference paper is published in an eligible publication venue.

How do I apply, and when?

The Fund covers articles and conference papers accepted for publication in an eligible publication venue. Reimbursement or payment requests must be submitted within three months of publication. Payment options include reimbursement to an eligible author, interdepartmental transfer, or direct billing by the publisher (The author is responsible for providing the Library with the invoicing details.)

Reminder: University of California authors are also eligible for APC support through the UC discounts and transformative agreements with over twenty publishers. Consult the UC OA Publishing Agreements and Discounts to determine if the journal you are publishing in is covered.

Additional Considerations

Is there a cap on reimbursement?

No, there is no cap.  The average gold journal APC is still well below $2000, which is below a typical cap for an APC fund. Having no cap simplifies the administrative overhead on authors and the Library in managing the fund and simplifies work for authors in making payments and obtaining reimbursements.

Why aren’t articles in hybrid journals covered?

Under the hybrid model, subscription journals offer authors the option to pay a fee (an APC) to make their article open access, while the journal remains a subscription-access journal. Thus, publishers collect fees twice (“double-dipping”), once through library subscriptions and then again from author-paid APCs. Therefore, The hybrid model inhibits publishers' incentives to transition to a sustainable open access publishing model. 

The UC libraries subsidize APCs for hybrid open access if the publisher and UC have negotiated a TA. Through a TA, growth in open access publication fees is offset by corresponding reductions in subscription charges. The UC libraries also provide APC support for hybrid open access through negotiated publishing discounts with select publishers.

What about monographs?

We recognize that there is interest among many faculty members in open access monograph publishing. However, the issues and economics associated with open access monograph publishing are quite different than those for articles. Although the Fund is not providing support for the cost of open monograph publishing at this time, the Library will continue to explore the possibility of adding monographs to a future iteration of the Fund. The UCSB Library currently supports open access book publishing through our UC Press Luminos, and Open Books Publishers, memberships, and through our Punctum Books Partnership.

Getting Started

To start the process, please complete and submit the application form below. Within two business days of submission, expect an email notification indicating your approval status. Once approved, authors can submit the Reimbursement and Payment Request Form below.

Application Form

When applying, please be signed in to your UCSB email account to ensure expedited processing. Only applications for articles and conference proceedings accepted for publication will be reviewed for funding. Please only apply once the publisher has notified you that your publication has been accepted. Applications are processed within ten (10) business days.

Fill out the application.

Reimbursement and Payment Request Form

The Reimbursement and Payment Request form is for authors with approved applications. The library processes forms within five business days of receipt.

Download the Reimbursement and Payment Request Form.

For questions or concerns, email openaccess@library.ucsb.edu.