The University's internal Open Access Support Fund, which was piloted in 2023-24, has been discontinued, as there was very little take-up and the funding model is unsustainable.Before submitting to an open access journal ('fully gold'), you should ensure that you are able to pay any article processing charge incurred:
- Check whether the journal is covered by a Library agreement with the publisher. (Ensure that you read the details, as exclusions may apply).
- If your paper has co-authors based at a different institution, their own library may be participating in publisher agreements unavailable at Hull, or they may have access to an internal OA support fund. Be mindful that eligibility is often tied to the corresponding author.
- If your paper acknowledges support from a research funder, check whether they provide financial support for open access publishing.
- Some OA publishers offer waivers for authors who have no means of paying the APC. Refer to their guidance for submissions.
Remember that it is not necessary to pay for open access publishing in order to distribute your work openly:
- Consider targeting a 'hybrid' (partly OA) or subscription-based journal, which will offer a cost-free route to publication. Access to your published article will be restricted to subscribers only, but you are likely retain the right to self-archive your accepted manuscript in your institutional repository ('green' open access), which will enable you to comply with REF and research funders' OA policies.
- Explore 'diamond' open access journals, which do not charge an APC, as their costs are met by research funders, institutions or donors.
