The Library Open Access Publishing Fund is now accepting applications for 2017-18.

The fund, established in 2011, raises awareness of the benefits of open access to scholarly research and helps Brock authors broaden the reach of their research. The fund allows Brock researchers to apply for grants to cover the costs of article-processing charges levied by some open access journals. The fund – increased to $15,000 for 2017-18 – provides maximum grants of $2,500 CDN per author.

While article-processing charges (APCs) are not a sustainable business model to transform scholarly publishing, in some cases Brock researchers may feel that publishing in open access journals with APCs is the best way to make their publications publicly accessible. The Library, as a partner in disseminating Brock scholarship, demonstrates its commitment to open access by financially supporting the publishing fund and several other initiatives.

Many other venues allow researchers to achieve open access, including the Brock Digital Repository, a publicly accessible online archive where Brock scholars can make their work accessible to everyone around the globe — for free.

The Library also invests in open access memberships with several publishers which provide discounted APCs for members of the Brock community. And we financially support the development of innovative open access platforms for scholarship, including Erudit, the Directory of Open Access Journals and the Public Knowledge Project.

The Library also provides local support for several peer-reviewed open access journals via Scholarly Journals at Brock; we welcome more publications to join the platform.

Questions? Contact Elizabeth Yates, Scholarly Communication Librarian, at eyates@brocku.ca or 905-688-5550 x4469.