Open access and central funds
There has been rapid movement in the field of research publishing in the last few years and open access publishing is now firmly in the mainstream. As open access publishing has grown, funders and institutions have recognized that the funding models that support scholarly communication need to evolve to keep pace.
BioMed Central has been working with the library community to discuss how libraries, funding agencies and research administration can and should work together to set up central funds and processes for open access publishing.
A central fund helps to:
- Reduce the barriers for researchers wishing to publish in an open access journal
- Assists in complying with funder policies that mandate open access publication (Welcome Trust and The Howard Hughes Medical Institute)
- Ensures research is disseminated to a global community
To this end BioMed Central has run a number of workshops at various conference events in 2008 including the Society of Research Administrators (SRA) held in Maryland, USA last October. These workshops have discussed how institutional collaborations between librarians and funding agencies can sit alongside the library budget to help ensure a ‘level playing field’ allowing an author to choose the right journal for their research, rather than finding themselves forced to publish in a subscription-based journal because that is the only model that their institution provides funding for. View the presentation slides from the SRA 2008 workshop now.
There are now several institutions that are leading the way and have already set up central funds allowing their authors to use these funds when publishing in open access journals.
BioMed Central has created case studies of how these institutions established their funds:
"Setting up a central fund to pay open access publication charges at the University was seen as a significant way of removing barriers for researchers to publishing in open access journals. It was an important step forward in creating a level playing field within the institution for open access alongside other forms of publishing."
Stephen Pinfield, Chief Information Officer, University of Nottingham
If you would like more information on central funding and how your institution would go about setting up a central fund contact your Sales Representative.
| 
