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Open Access at UCSC

Support for Open Access Costs for Articles

Support for the cost of open access publication for articles is publisher-specific at UCSC, meaning the terms vary by publisher. The following resource helps authors determine whether there is funding support for a journal and publisher and what amount: 

UC Libraries' Open Access Publishing Agreements and Discounts

For both open access publishing agreements and discounts, the terms are unique for each publisher, so we recommend reading the details early in the publishing process and asking the Library if you have questions. Generally, here is how agreements and discounts work:

  • Agreements: The UC Libraries' open access publishing agreements offer support for the article processing charge (APC) of open access articles only with certain publishers. With these publisher-specific agreements, the UC Libraries cover a portion of UC affiliates' open access publishing fees. Some agreements require authors to pay a portion of the fees. In other agreements, authors may share in the cost if they have grant funds not earmarked for something else to contribute or request full coverage by the UC Libraries if the author doesn't have funds. A comprehensive list of UC's OA agreements is available on the UC Office of Scholarly Communication website.
     
  • Discounts: Discounts offer a percentage off of the article processing charge (APC) or a discounted rate. The author is responsible for the remaining cost after the discount is applied. Check each publisher to find the amount of the discount. The discounts are included in the same list as the agreements so it is worth taking a close look at the terms for individual publishers on that list and whether the support is part of an agreement or discount. A comprehensive list is available on the UC Office of Scholarly Communication website.

To use UC Libraries' support for open access via these agreements and discounts at UCSC, the UCSC author needs to be the corresponding author, verify their affiliation with their UCSC email address, and publish one of the included article types for the agreement. If you have questions, please contact the University Library.

UCSC-specific OA Agreements and Discounts

UC Priorities for Publisher Negotiations

You may also be wondering, how does UC decide which publishers to negotiate open access publishing agreements and discounts with? See the following article and matrix:

Open Access Questions? We Can Help