Open Access Publishing Fund for Emerging Researchers - Pilot

The Hirsh Health Sciences Library’s (HHSL) Open Access Publishing Fund aims to improve access to research produced at Tufts University by covering open access (OA) article processing charges (APC).  In particular, the fund will:

  • Promote publishing by Boston Health Sciences Campus graduate students and early-career staff and faculty
  • Enable authors to retain their copyright
  • Accelerate the online availability of peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles
  • Raise awareness about the benefits of open access

Award Coverage

There is a limited budget for this pilot project.  Funds cover:

  • Direct OA expenses (e.g., not the cost of reprints, color illustration fees, non-OA page charges, web hosting for self-archiving, etc.).
  • APCs up to a maximum of $3,000
  • 1 publication per applicant per fiscal year

Eligibility - Applicants

Individuals who meet all of the following requirements may apply:

  • members of the Tufts Community with their primary Tufts affiliation being on the Boston Health Sciences campus, which includes those with clinical faculty appointments at Tufts School of Medicine
  • Faculty, students, and staff, in particular, students, postdocs, fellows, residents, clinical faculty, and non-tenure track faculty are encouraged to apply
  • No sources of funding to cover publishing fees, including from co-authors

Eligibility - Publications

Characteristics of eligible publications include:

  • 100% open access (e.g., hybrid publications, where some content is OA and other requires a subscription to view will not be considered)
  • Allow authors to retain distribution rights
  • Demonstrate adherence to Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) Code of Conduct
  • Have a publicly available standard fee schedule
  • Have a policy to substantially waive fees in case of economic hardship
  • Manuscript at any stage of publication, i.e., pre-submission, submitted, accepted

Application Process

Please complete the application form and feel free to Ask Us any questions or for clarifications.   Applications are considered on a rolling, first-come, first-served basis until funds are depleted. Expect award status notification typically within one or two weeks of submission. Successful applicants will submit the OA invoice to Tufts Libraries, who will pay the publisher directly.

Application Form

Award stipulations

Awarded publications must include a statement of acknowledgement such as, “Partial funding for open access was provided by Tufts University Hirsh Health Sciences Library’s Open Access Fund.”  Awarded applicants must list a Tufts University or Tufts Medicine address as their author affiliation in the publication.  Deposit the published version, or if need be, the author's final version, in the Tufts Digital Library, where it will be made openly-available alongside other Tufts scholarship