A large-scale survey of researchers across the globe has found that lack of funding is the most common reason authors do not publish in open access journals. While 89% of those surveyed believe open access publishing is a benefit to their field, 39% of authors who had not yet published open access articles said it was because of funding limitations.
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Last spring, the MIT Libraries launched an open access publishing fund that directly addresses this need. The fund was designed to reimburse article processing fees of up to $1000 per article for MIT faculty articles which have been accepted for publication in eligible open-access, peer-reviewed journals, to cover fees when funds from other sources, such as grant funds, are unavailable.
The fund is a pilot project, carried out in cooperation with the Faculty Committee on the Library System. We encourage faculty authors to explore using the fund. Professor Lionel Kimerling and Doctor Jurgen Michel benefited from it when publishing 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.
More information:
- FAQ on the purpose, scope, and use of the fund
- MIT news story
- MIT Libraries’ support for open access publishing
If you have any questions about eligibility for or use of the fund, please contact copyright-lib@mit.edu.
Image Used with Permission From: Salvatore Mele. See: Suenje Dallmeier-Tiessen, et al, “Highlights from the SOAP project survey. What Scientists Think about Open Access Publishing”, Jan. 28, 2011. arXiv:1101.5260v2 [cs.DL]
