First Use of New Open Access Publishing Fund for MIT Faculty

Earlier this year the MIT Libraries established a special fund, the MIT Open Access Article Publication Subvention Fund (OAAPSF), to support equity in open access publication by providing funding to MIT authors who might not otherwise be able to cover publication fees. A subsidy of up to $1,000 per article is now available to faculty authors publishing in peer-reviewed open access journals that meet certain criteria.

oapolicylogofinal

The fund was created as a result of MIT’s commitment to the “Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity,” launched with four other founding universities in September of 2009.

The goal of the compact is to allow subscription-based journals and open access journals to compete on a more level playing field by providing equitable support for the processing-fee business model used by some open-access journals.

First Use
Soon after the fund was launched, Professor Lionel Kimerling and Doctor Jurgen Michel applied for and received funding from the Libraries to publish their paper in Optics Express.

“We welcome the new program because it encourages publication in open-access journals that have high impact ratings by defraying the publication fees,” Michel said.

The fund is being initiated as a pilot project, in cooperation with the Faculty Committee on the Library System, with the goal of determining faculty interest and financial requirements for such a fund.

More information:

If you have any questions about eligibility for or use of the fund, please contact copyright-lib@mit.edu.