Open Access Author Fund - York University Libraries

Through use of an open access author fund, York University Libraries directs a small portion of its collections budget to cover some author processing charges (APCs) for York researchers wishing to publish in open access journals. While York University Libraries directly supports open access publishing via a number of investments and initiatives, our ability to support researchers with the costs incurred from publication in gold open access journals is limited and must be balanced against competing demands on our collections budget.

About the York University Libraries OA Author Fund

Through its open access author fund, York University Libraries directs a small portion of its collections budget to cover some author processing charges (APCs) for York researchers wishing to publish in open access journals. Please note that due to unprecedented demand, the annual allocation for this fund is currently fully expended. We are unable to fund any further APCs at this time. Our ability to support researchers with the costs incurred from publication in gold open access journals is limited and must be balanced against competing demands on our collections budget. As a member of broader Library consortia, York University Libraries has secured a number of publisher APC discounts, including a transformative agreement with Wiley, where any corresponding authors affiliated with York University with articles accepted for publication in Wiley hybrid journals will have their article processing charge (APC) waived between January 1st, 2023 to December 31st, 2024. Please see the Libraries Investments in Open Access Publishing page for more information about the Wiley APC coverage and our multiple negotiated discounts.

The Libraries will continue to explore potential additional avenues of funding in support of open access initiatives.

All York faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, staff, and post-docs who have had a peer-reviewed article accepted to an Open Access journal that meets the funding criteria. Students, early-career researchers, and early-career faculty that do not have access to research grant funds are especially encouraged to apply.

Where an article has multiple authors, the first author must be a York-affiliated researcher. York University Libraries will only fund one publication per year for each York-affiliated researcher.

Applications for research projects that have received major grant funding from Tri-Council agencies or any other major granting body that recognize APCs as eligible grant expenses are not eligible for funding under the terms of this fund. Only researchers with no other funding source to cover APCs will be given funding.

The fund will cover Author Processing Charges (also called author’s fees or page fees) for articles published in gold open access journals that meet the following criteria:

a) The open access journal selected for publication should not charge subscription fees for any of its content. All articles published through the journal should be immediately available online at no cost to the reader.

b) The open access journal selected for publication should not be a hybrid journal. Hybrid journals are publications under subscription control for which authors of individual articles can pay an “open choice” fee to make their papers freely available to any reader. The Libraries will not cover any “open choice” fee.

c) The open access journal selected for publication shall not apply embargoes that limit open access to content for a specific time period after publication.

d) The open access journal selected for publication should provide authors the right to retain the copyright for their work. The fund aims to encourage authors to retain copyright so they can release their work under Creative Commons licensing. Please note that a copy of every funded paper will also be made available through York Space, York University's institutional repository.

Please note that due to unprecedented demand, the annual allocation for this fund is currently fully expended. We are unable to fund any further APCs at this time.

STEP 1: Please make sure that the journal to which you are submitting your article meets the criteria mentioned in the above-listed "What does the fund cover?" section.

STEP 2: Apply for funding using the Open Access Author Fund application form [not available due to the fund being expended].

STEP 3: You will be notified within three business days about the outcome of your application. If your application is successful, remember to hold on to the invoice made out to you by the publisher. The invoice should be in your name.

STEP 4: Send the author fee invoice to the libraries by sending a message to opendeposit@yorku.ca. Please do not pay your own invoice. The libraries must pay the invoice directly, and we will not reimburse authors who have paid their own fees. If you are submitting an article for publication in an OA journal from BioMed Central, please note that York University Libraries has set aside discrete funds for articles published on this platform. The BioMed Central account number for York will be provided to authors once their applications have been approved via the form described above.