Scholarly Communications & Open Access

Open Access Publishing Fund

Milne Library has been awarded $30,000 from SUNY Oneonta's Regaining Momentum initiative to help authors pay for open access publishing costs, often called article processing charges (APCs) or book processing charges (BPCs). 

The funding will be available in $6,000 allotments per semester beginning in Fall 2023 through Fall 2025, and unused allotments will roll over to the next period. 

For the first round of funding (opening on August 15, 2023), SUNY Oneonta authors can apply for up to $3,000 to cover the cost of an APC for a single article per year. One BPC of up to $4,000 for a single book may be awarded over the entire 5-semester funding period. APCs will only be covered for a SUNY Oneonta-based author (or coauthor) of peer-reviewed articles published in a Gold Open Access (non-hybrid) journal, and books must be published Open Access to be eligible for this award. See the "Process to Apply" and "Terms and Conditions" below for full eligibility details. 

Apply for funding now ( opens an online application form ) 

Process to Apply

The Open Access Publishing Fund will open for applications twice per year -- in August and January -- via a link to an online application form on this page. The first round of funding will open on August 15, 2023.

Applications will be accepted for three weeks, after which applicants will be notified whether they secured an award and the amount won. 

• If the demand for funds in the initial 3-week application period exceeds the $6,000 allotment for that semester, priority for awards will go to tenure-track faculty and graduate student authors, projects led or co-led by SUNY Oneonta authors (versus projects with many authors), and applicants who have not been previously awarded this funding. Awarded amounts may be less than the maximum stated.
• If funding remains after the initial 3-week application period, more applications will be accepted on a rolling, first-come/first-served basis until the allotment is gone for that semester. 

Update for the August 2023 round : There is no longer a 3-week application period funding is now available on a continuous, first-come , first-served basis till the end of the semester . 

To increase the chances of being awarded funds, apply as soon as the funding period opens. If you would like a notification when the application period opens, sign up for email notification.  

OA Publishing awards must be requested prior to payment of an APC/BPC -- these funds cannot be applied as a reimbursement if an author has already paid an APC or BPC.

Journal articles do not need to be submitted or accepted before authors apply for an OA Publishing award, but authors should choose the journal to which they plan to submit in order to calculate the APC cost. Books/book chapters must already be submitted and accepted by a publisher to be eligible for an award toward OA publication. Please keep publication timelines in mind, as awards not spent or no longer meeting eligibility criteria before the end of the fiscal year in which you applied will be forfeit. Authors can apply for another award if their previous funds were forfeit.  

Terms and Conditions

1. Author Eligibility: The fund is open to all current SUNY Oneonta faculty, students, and staff. Each individual is limited to one award per fiscal year. 
2. Award Amount: Awards may cover the full cost of an open access APC up to a maximum of $3,000 per article or BPC up to $4,000. The fund will not pay more than the amount of an invoice from a publisher, and the fund cannot cover taxes. Applicants for the award must note in their application if co-authors or other institutions/units will be covering part of the Open Access fees.
3. Journal Requirements: Only fully open journals that allow authors to retain their copyright (sometimes called Gold Open Access journals) are eligible for APC funding. Hybrid journals that publish both open and subscription-access articles are not eligible for this funding (instead, authors choosing to publish in hybrid journals can submit versions of their published articles at no cost to the SUNY Open Access Repository/SOAR). Suspected deceptive or predatory publications may result in denial of funding. Consult with your Department Chair and/or the Scholarly Communication Librarian prior to choosing a journal and applying to the OA Publishing Fund if you have questions about a journal's eligibility or status.
4. Article Requirements: Your article does not need to be submitted or accepted before you apply for an award, but please keep publications timelines in mind, as awards not spent or no longer meeting eligibility criteria before the end of the fiscal year will be forfeit.
5. Matching Funds: Applicants must identify any sources of matching funds (department, college, grant, other) that may be used toward APC/BPCs.
6. Institutional Repository Deposit: Successful applicants must deposit a copy of the published article/book/chapter in SOAR, the institutional repository.
7. Timing: The fund opens twice per year in August and January (sign up for email notification). Awards must be spent before June 30th of the fiscal year in which they were awarded. Awards not spent by this date will be forfeit and reallocated. 
8. Invoicing: Awards are paid by invoice directly to the publisher and cannot be applied retroactively to invoices that have already been paid.
9. Other Costs: The award may only be applied to open access publishing costs (APCs/BPCs) and does not cover other publishing costs such as page charges, color figure charges, or indexing services.

By applying for the Open Access Publishing Fund, you agree to these terms and conditions. For any further questions or clarifications, please email openaccess@oneonta.edu.