Open Access Fund Currently Accepting Applications

The University Libraries' Open Access Publishing Support Fund is accepting applications for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Apply for funding through MyApps.

If you have any questions, please contact Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator ([email protected]).

 Frequently Asked Questions

Open access journals make articles freely available online, permitting any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text. This allows more people around the world to benefit from academic information. Open access enables a more sustainable and more inclusive scholarly community, accelerates the discovery of knowledge, and sparks new ideas.

Open access journal have publishing costs, just like traditional subscription journals. Many open access journals cover the costs of publishing by requiring authors to pay a fee when their article is accepted. 

The Open Access Publishing Support Fund enables GVSU authors to publish scholarly work in open access journals, by providing grants for up to $2,000 of publication fees. From 2012 through June 2019, this funding has supported the publication of 123 articles by GVSU faculty, staff, and students.

Grant Criteria

Applicant Criteria:

• Current GVSU tenure-track faculty, non-tenure-track faculty, staff, or registered graduate student.
• May apply for a maximum grant of $2,000 per article, for fees associated with the cost of making the article freely available.
• May not receive more than $2,000 from this fund per fiscal year (July - June).
• Must use external grant funding, if available, before seeking an open access grant.

Article Criteria:

• Must be newly accepted (within the past six months), in a peer-reviewed open access journal.
• Must be openly licensed, with a Creative Commons license or similar license which allows deposit in ScholarWorks@GVSU, Grand Valley's institutional repository.
• Must be made freely available online at the time of publication, with no embargo period.

Journal Criteria:

• Must be listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) or follow best practices in scholarly publishing, as identified by DOAJ and by the GVSU Libraries.
• Must be completely open access, not a mix of open and subscription publishing.
• Must make its fee schedule publicly available online.

Limitations

• The maximum Open Access grant for a single article is $2000. If the publishing fee for an eligible journal is more than $2000, you may be able to cover the difference with other GVSU funding options, including the Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence's Mini-Grant Program.  
• Open Access grants are only available for costs directly associated with open access publishing.
  • Costs for reprints, color illustration fees, non-open access page charges, administrative charges and other fees are not eligible.
  • CSCE's Mini-Grant Program may be able to assist with these fees.
• Articles published in "hybrid" or "mirror" journals are not eligible for grant funding.
  • Hybrid journals: subscription journals which allow individual articles to be made open access.
  • Mirror journals:  open access journals which duplicate a subscription journal, including the same editorial board, scope, and peer review processes. 
  • For both hybrid and mirror journals, payment is optional, not a requirement for publication. If the OA publishing fee is not paid, an accepted article will still be published as a closed-access, subscription article.

Reimbursement Process

Open Access funding is granted through reimbursement, which allows you to control how and when the invoice is paid. You will receive specific instructions after a grant is approved. 

Typically, you will send your invoice and receipt of payment to your department’s OnBase administrator to create a transfer request. The library will reimburse department funds when all grant material is provided. 

The University Libraries provide this funding in order to:

• Empower GVSU faculty to participate in changing the scholarly publishing ecosystem to a more sustainable, equitable, and accessible model.
• Increase the visibility of GVSU scholarship, by funding dissemination in publications which are open to scholars, students, and members of the public from around the world.
• Embody the Libraries’ commitment to supporting open access to scholarly information through both advocacy and action.

Additional goals of the Open Access Publishing Support Fund include:

• Encourage GVSU authors to explore new and alternative publication models.
• Provide discipline-agnostic support for authors across the university community
• Serve as a proof of concept and model for other institutions.
• Collect data that can be used to measure the effectiveness and impact of this program.
• Maximize our support of the GVSU community through responsible and effective stewardship of the Fund.