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Open Access APC Funding

Open Access publishing often comes with a cost, known as Article Processing Charge (APC). These charges can range from $200 - $5000. To help cover the cost of these fees, there are organizations, including Atkins Library, that may be able to provide funding.

Add it to your grant
When applying for a grant, be sure to plan for open access funding in your grant proposal. There are many places to search if you are seeking grant funding. The UNC Charlotte Center for Research Excellence (CRE) provides resources and guidance to faculty interested in exploring research grants.

APC deals and discounts
We have negotiated some discounts for APCs with the journal publishers listed below. Corresponding authors must be affiliated with UNC Charlotte to be eligible for these discounts and waivers:

  • American Chemical Society (ACS) - Starting in 2023 ACS will not charge UNC Charlotte authors APC's as part of a Read and Publish deal.
  • Annual Reviews - Annual Reviews has implemented a Subscribe to Open (S2O) model, which includes no cost APCs.
  • Cambridge University Press - Cambridge University Press will not charge UNC Charlotte authors APCs as part of our Read and Publish Deal. For information and for eligibility requirements please visit the OA Agreement page.
  • Institute of Physics (IOP) - IOP will not charge UNC Charlotte authors APC's as part of a Read and Publish deal.
  • John Benjamin Publishing - Starting in 2025, John Benjamin Publishing will not charge UNC Charlotte authors APCs for open access articles in all of their journals as part a Read and Publish deal.
  • Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) - RSC will not charge UNC Charlotte authors APC's as part of a Read and Publish deal.
  • Springer Nature Publishing - UNC Charlotte authors are eligible to publish their articles open access with fees covered in hybrid journals across the Springer Nature portfolio. To ensure eligibility, the corresponding author must be from UNC Charlotte and use their official university email upon article submission. There is limited number of fee waivers shared across the Carolina Consortium, so funding is not guaranteed. For more information and a list of eligible journals please visit the OA Agreement Information page.
  • Wiley Publishing Inc - Wiley will cover the cost of the article processing charges for articles published in most Wiley journals as part of our current Read and Publish deal. The deal has a limited number of vouchers shared with libraries in North and South Carolina and is not unlimited. Once the vouchers are no longer available you will receive a 10% discount on your APC. For information and for eligibility requirements please visit the Carolina Consortium Agreement page.
  • SAGE Publishing - Authors will receive a 10% discount on the APC if they publish Open Access in a SAGE journal. Please contact Liz Siler, for instructions on how to apply this discount.

If you have any questions about these deals and discounts please contact Liz Siler, Associate Dean for Collection Services, at esiler3@charlotte.edu.

Atkins Library Open Access Publishing Fund
We established the Open Access Publishing Fund to help faculty and graduate students fund APCs. The requirements are outlined below:

  • The fund is available to Faculty and Graduate Students who have an article accepted by a fully Open Access Journal and have been unable to secure funding elsewhere.
  • For a journal to be eligible, it must meet the following criteria
    • Peer reviewed, Indexed by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), or published by a reputable OA publisher
    • Have policies and practices consistent with the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association Code of Conduct
    • Make their standard fee schedules publicly accessible
    • Waive their fees in cases of financial hardship
  • The library can decide not to fund APCs based on predetermined criteria at its discretion.
  • Hybrid journals, or journals that have both open access articles and paid subscriptions, will not be funded.
  • Companion journals, or open journals that supplement paywalled journals to satisfy open funding requirements, will not be funded.
  • Open book and chapter support will be evaluated on case by case basis for funding eligibility.
  • Funded articles must be placed in Niner Commons upon publication.
  • Funds are limited to $1000 per article. Funds are only approved upon article acceptance.
  • The library asks that funding requests be submitted only if funding is needed during the current fiscal year.
  • Funds are limited and once the fund has been expended new funds will not be available until the next fiscal year.
  • Due to limited funds, authors are only allowed one award per fiscal year.
  • We will no longer be able to accept applications after April 15 of the current funding year as we prepare for fiscal year close.

To apply for funding please complete the application form. If you have any questions about the fund please contact Liz Siler, Associate Dean for Collection Services, at esiler3@charlotte.edu.