Open Access Publishing Fund

The OA Publishing Fund program is designed to heighten the visibility and accessibility of NIU's scholarly output while also advancing innovation in research publishing models. The Fund supports NIU faculty and enrolled graduate students in all disciplines who choose to publish in open access (OA) journals that require article processing fees.

The fund is administered by the University Libraries and generously funded by NIU’s Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships (RIPS) and the University Libraries. Given the pace of developments in scholarly communication and publishing, the OA Publishing Fund program will be reviewed annually to improve the process and enhance funding as needed.

Goals of the Fund

• Support for NIU affiliated authors who wish to publish open access
• Support for transition to a more sustainable scholarly publishing model
• Greater equity of access to information
• Greater visibility and accessibility of NIU scholarship
• Encouragement of authors to retain rights to their work

Eligibility Criteria

Because this fund is limited, the following criteria have been created to allow as many eligible individuals as possible to participate in open access publishing. Please read the following eligibility criteria carefully. If you have any questions, contact Jaime Schumacher, Sr. Director, Digital Collections & Scholarship.

Author Eligibility

• Open Access Publishing Funds are available to: Northern Illinois University faculty and research staff, including non-tenure track faculty and enrolled graduate students.
• Articles with multiple authors are only eligible where the lead author is an NIU affiliate.
• Funds are limited to one grant per article and one grant per author each fiscal year (July – June).

Fee Eligibility

• This fund is intended for peer-reviewed articles by authors who do not have access to funds for OA publishing fees from other sources, or to supplement funds for OA publishing where not fully covered by other sources.
• Only those fees associated with OA publishing are eligible for reimbursement. Examples of excluded costs are: reprints, color illustration fees, non-open access page charges, administrative charges and other fees.
• In order to include as many authors as possible while covering typical costs, the maximum amount that can be awarded per article, per fiscal year (July - June) is $3000 USD.
• Disbursement is determined on a first-come-first-served basis, and is dependent upon availability of funds and the application's compliance with all eligibility criteria.

Journal/Publisher Eligibility

Choosing where to publish is an individual decision and should be based on a clear understanding of the advantages and disadvantages the publishing venue may present to the author's career development.  We encourage NIU authors to assess the impact of the publishing venue and consult with a department chair, mentor or senior colleague when appropriate.

To be considered eligible for OA Publishing Funds, a journal/publisher must meet the majority of the following requirements:

• Journal has clearly defined peer-review process on its website
• Fully Open Access (that is, it does not charge readers or their institutions for access to the peer-reviewed articles that it publishes)
• Journal identifies a clear and standard article fee schedule on its website
• Publisher is a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, or adheres to the majority of its membership criteria.
• Preferably, the journal should be listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (unless the journal is too new for DOAJ eligibility)

Currently, all of the major open-access publishers satisfy these conditions, including BioMed Central, Public Library of Science (PLoS), and Hindawi, as do many other smaller open access publishers.

Review Process

Once an application for open access publishing is submitted, it will be reviewed by representatives from the funding divisions (see above) to determine that all eligibility requirements are met. Upon approval, the applicant will be notified, via email, of the award along with instructions for processing the payment of OA publication fees.

Deposit in Huskie Commons

Acceptance of Open Access Publishing Funds requires the submission of the supported article to Northern Illinois University's digital repository, Huskie Commons, within three months of publication for its long-term preservation and collocation with other author, department, college, and university scholarship. Questions about Huskie Commons can be directed to Jaime Schumacher, Sr. Director, Digital Collections & Scholarship.

Please note: Funding does not imply an endorsement of any journal nor does it imply an assessment of the quality or research value of any article.