Open Access Fees Policy

ArtSci encourages researchers to share their data in ways that are most impactful and beneficial for their research, creative, and teaching agendas. But there is not a dedicated funding stream for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students to request funds to cover open access fees from publishers. In recent years, open access fee requests have significantly risen, making it difficult to cover these costs while maintaining other fiscal priorities.

ArtSci faculty that are required to make their data and outcomes publicly available due to extramural funding should use the Library’s resources and PI returned indirect costs (F&A) for open access fees. Individual departments may also choose to use their indirect costs or other funds to help faculty cover these costs if funding is available. 

For those pieces with a ArtSci faculty researcher as a primary author that have community, legislative, private foundation, industry, non-profit, and other audiences that may lack institutional access to academic databases, ArtSci may be able to partially and modestly invest in open access fees. 

To request funding for open access pieces that have a clear audience that may not have access to academic databases, faculty should:

  1. Pursue existing internal and external mechanisms for open access funding (such as USU Library’s biannual open access fund).
  2. Discuss with their Department Head any departmental commitment.
  3. Contact the Associate Dean for Faculty Success (Julia Gossard) with:
    1. Brief abstract of the piece with publication information
    2. Brief description of the audience
    3. Brief explanation of why making this piece open access would be beneficial
    4. A list of matching funding for open access fees
    5. A copy of the publisher’s estimate for open access fees

A committee will review all applications for open access fees, determining if the fees are an appropriate and impactful use of college funds.

Note on open access fees for graduate students: Graduate students should first work with their mentors to try to secure funding for open access fees. There may be extraordinary circumstances in which open access funding can be extended to graduate students.