Open Access is essential for maximum reach and impact. For 2023 the library has arrangements with even more publishers. These agreements allow our researchers to publish Open Access easily without worrying about securing separate APC funding.
Read and Publish agreements allow University of Kent corresponding authors to publish Open Access without needing to acquire separate funding. The publishing costs are bundled together with the “read” subscription costs in the fees paid by the library to publishers at the beginning of the calendar year.
These agreements are good value for money and allow us to publish a much higher proportion of Kent articles Open Access than if we paid for each item individually. For example, in 2022 272 articles have been made Open Access using our Read and Publish agreements representing approximately £591,872 which would have been required to make these articles Open Access outside of these agreements.
New agreements
We have taken out new agreements with 8 more publishers and now have an impressive selection of Read and Publish agreements and Open Access publishing options at Kent.
Agreements new for 2023 are
- Association of Computing Machinery
- British Medical Journal
- American Institute of Physics
- American Physiological Society
- Microbiology Society
- Optica
- PLOS
- World Scientific
Outside of the agreements there are funds available to pay for individual APCs which the library has recently topped up.
Journal search updated
We’ve updated our Kent bespoke Read and Publish journal search that allows you to identify journal titles and subject covered by our agreements. Our latest update includes titles from the new agreements as well as the changes that the publishers made when our agreements were renewed. Journals moved in and out of agreements, changed to different publishers and changed status from hybrid to open journals.
Check before you choose
Make sure you understand the Open Access situation before you submit to a journal. If you are wishing to publish in a Gold fully Open journal you will need to ensure you have secured funds to pay the APC in order to publish there. You also need to meet funder Open Access requirements.
If this feels overwhelming, use our Check before you Choose guidance that takes you through each decision for a journal title and links you to the appropriate resource, service or tool. We have Check before you Choose workflows for UKRI, Wellcome and NIHR funded research.
Potential innovation or commercial value
Don’t forget to check in with the University’s Technology Transfer and Commercialisation team at an early stage to discuss whether this potential can work alongside publication. Contact commercialisation@kent.ac.uk
Springer Nature and Sage
National negotiations between JISC and the publishers Sage and Springer Nature publishers about the terms of new agreements for 2023 and beyond are still ongoing. Grace access and the existing arrangements persist until the end of March 2023. See how we work with JISC.
Ask for help
If you are not sure about your Open Access options please contact researchsupport@kent.ac.uk