RSP - OA

University Open Access Publishing Fund

The University Open Access Publishing Fund is open to applications from researchers at Coventry University Research Centres to cover the costs associated with immediate (Gold) Open Access to research publications, where this is required by funders. This includes all open access costs (sometimes called APCs/BPCs/CPCs, Article/Book/Chapter Processing Charges) including VAT, but not associated costs such a submission fees, page or colour charges, etc.

The University Open Access Publishing fund is finite, and applications will be reviewed in terms of both the strength of the application and the amount of remaining funds available. The use of the fund is monitored and regularly reported back to the DVC-Research and Research Services.

Applications should be made at the point of submission, as funding cannot be confirmed until after a successful application. Applications are checked and processed by the Open Research & Scholarly Publications Team in the Library. Once a decision has been made, you will receive an email communicating the decision to you from the Open Research and Scholarly Publications Team.

The Open Research and Scholarly Publications team also administer the UKRI Block Grant to fund Open Access for UKRI funded research, and a number of Read and Publish Agreements that allow Open Access at no further cost. It is expected that, where possible and appropriate to use these options, that they will be taken up rather than applying for this fund.

Eligibility:

• The fund will support the publishing of articles, book chapters and books, where funds are available enable this.
• The applying author must be associated to a Coventry University research centre at the point of application, which will be listed as an affiliation on the publication. They do not have to be the corresponding author, however, a case would need to be made as to the applying author’s relationship to the paper.
• Applications should be made at the point of submission, as funding cannot be confirmed until after a successful application.
• The output must have been reviewed by someone with a responsibility for research at the centre who is not an author, e.g. a centre director, theme lead etc. They will be contacted and asked to provide a statement regarding the quality of the publication.
• Articles must be published in a fully Open Access journal listed by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
• The publication should be in scope of an Open Access requirement, where this funding would help meet the requirements.
• Only Open Access costs can be covered. Additional costs such as submission, page or colour charges cannot be covered.
• The output must be published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence.

Process:

1. Prior to applying, researchers must have the output reviewed by someone with a responsibility for research at the applying researcher’s centre who does not hold an author role on the paper. Once they have confirmed that the paper is of an appropriate quality to apply for the fund, the researcher can apply for funding.
2. This online form should be completed as fully as possible. Emphasis on the justification for the funding of the paper is essential in terms of clarifying why there is value in funding a particular publication. When applying for funding please also upload a word or pdf document of the manuscript.
3. Once the ORSP have received the application, they will review the eligibility of the publication. Should they find that the author is eligible for another source of support (e.g. the Block Grant or Read and Publish Agreements) then they will advise such.
4. The named reviewer will then be contacted by ORSP to confirm that the review has taken place, and they will be asked to fill in the brief form found at the bottom of this page, detailing their perceived value in the paper, and it’s merits for funding.
5. Once the reviewer has completed the form, the whole application will be sent for review. Subsequently, applicants will be informed of the outcome via email from the ORSP team. 
6. Successful applicants will then need to provide an invoice address to the Library at the point the payment must be made. 

For any questions or queries about the fund, contact the Open Research & Scholarly Publications Team in the Library - oa.lib@coventry.ac.uk

Apply for Funding