Information Services now has many agreements in place that allow you to publish Gold Open Access “for free” without the need to apply for separate funding for an Article Processing Charge.
These agreements are Read and Publish agreements where the costs of Open Access are bundled into the big journal subscription packages that your library pays for.
List of agreements in place at Kent
The agreements and opportunities for free Open Access at Kent are listed on our Article Processing Charges webpages. These pages are updated regularly as we agree and set up more deals. We are currently finalising agreements with Taylor & Francis and Rockefeller University Press.
What this means for Kent authors
- Authors can publish Open Access without having to spend time seeking funding
- Authors will retain copyright in their articles with Creative Commons licences for their work which make clear the terms for re-use
- Although we will receive further Open Access funds from UKRI in June, there are currently no funds available for individual APC applications. The Read and Publish agreements are the best way to secure Gold Open Access.
- We are reducing and preventing “double dipping” where the publishers receive money from us twice, once for subscriptions and again for Article Processing Charges for articles in hybrid journals
- Read and Publish agreements help authors to meet the requirements of Plan S and new Open Access policies such as Wellcome’s
Actions Kent author should take
- Take our Open Access Read and Publish Agreements into consideration when deciding where to publish and the roles that authors will take in future joint publications, especially corresponding and submitting authors
- Discuss Read and Publish agreements available at your co-authors’ institutions before deciding upon the corresponding author role
- Use your Kent email address and affiliation right from the beginning when submitting an article
- Be aware of Open Access deals when completing your author/publisher agreement forms
- This is a service we are paying for, so feedback to publishers if they are not making the process clear and easy for you, or if titles have been excluded from agreements
- Contact research support@kent.ac.uk if you get stuck or are unsure what option to select on the author dashboards and submission platforms
Thoroughly confused?
If you are new to Open Access and overwhelmed by the options and jargon, have a look at our webpages about making your article open access. You may find this Journal Checker tool useful too and you can contact researchsupport@kent.ac.uk for help.
Don’t forget that we have these tools to help you make sure you choose a good quality Open Access publisher.