New Open Access support for researchers

All Concordia University faculty, staff, current graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows can now request support from the Open Access Author Fund to cover author publishing fees charged by some Open Access journals.

The fund’s creation builds upon last year's Senate resolution on Open Access and similar initiatives that affirm Concordia’s commitment to making its research more widely available. Open Access publishing benefits researchers by increasing the reach and impact of their peer-reviewed research and creative work, making the public more aware of new knowledge being created by our university. 

Funding for a two-year pilot project was provided by the Office of Research, with the support of Vice-President Research and Graduate Studies, Louise Dandurand. Matching funds were awarded through a strategic funding allocation from the Office of the President.

President and Vice-Chancellor Frederick Lowy describes this project “as an exciting initiative in support of our strategic commitment to academic work of the highest quality and community engagement and social responsibility.”

Concordia is one of four Canadian universities to establish an Open Access author fund. This fund will support Concordia faculty who wish to publish in Open Access journals that charge the author processing fees to cover costs of publication. The pilot project will determine the level of support that is needed to sustain the initiative and to assess whether such support increases Open Access publishing by Concordia researchers.

The fund, which will be managed in collaboration by the Office of Research and the University Libraries, is an initiative of the Open Access Working Group. The group is composed of faculty, librarians and administrators who are committed to developing and supporting the Open Access initiative at Concordia.

This fund is open to all Concordia faculty, staff, current graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows who wish to publish in fully Open Access journals, and the day-to-day administration of the fund will be performed by the Libraries.

Traditional subscription-based or ‘hybrid’ journals that offer a fee-based Open Access option are not eligible because full subscription costs are still charged to universities. Articles supported by this fund will be deposited into Spectrum: Concordia University Research Repository.

Related links:
•    Concordia Open Access Author Fund site (including the application form)
•    Open Access at Concordia
•    Senate Resolution on Open Access