Open Access Publishing Support
ECU Libraries is committed to making access to research more sustainable, affordable, transparent, and open. As part of this commitment, we provide funding for open access publishing, establish agreements with publishers, support open access infrastructure and support organizations that advance open access for research and education.
Please direct questions about our support to scholarlycomm@ecu.edu.
Open Access Publishing Support & Author Discounts
ECU researchers have access to open access funding and discounts through the publisher agreements and library support.
Find additional open access publishing options via the Directory of Open Access Journals or by talking with your liaison librarian at the Main Campus Library or Laupus Health Sciences Library.
ECU Libraries’ Open Access Publishing Support Fund
The Open Access Publishing Support Fund (OAPSF) was established to reduce barriers to open access publishing and to support faculty, staff, and graduate students who choose open access publishing as the best venue for their work. Support is based on available funding. For more information and to apply to the fund, please visit the OAPSF website.
Cambridge University Press
ECU authors may publish OA at no cost in both Hybrid and Gold journals covered by this agreement. When prompted, please coordinate your APC transaction and seek funding from your institution. Doing so will not impose additional costs on your library. Please refer to this step by step guide to publishing OA with Cambridge.
The Company of Biologists
The Company of Biologists’ Read and Publish agreement allows for ECU authors to publish open access articles in Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology free of charge. More information about this service can be found on the publisher’s Read & Publish Guide for Authors page.
Frontiers
Academic Library Services at East Carolina University has formed an institutional membership agreement for open access publishing with Frontiers. This institutional agreement means that eligible researchers may publish in any Frontiers journal at 50% cost to them and with a simplified process. ECU authors must be a corresponding author to be eligible.
Please select East Carolina University in the payment information section (“Frontiers institutional members”) when submitting your article. Frontiers will verify your eligibility with the library and, if confirmed, 50% of the APC will be paid by the library upon acceptance. You will receive an invoice from Frontiers for the remaining 50%.
IGI Global
ECU corresponding authors can now publish open access articles and book chapters in IGI Global at no cost.
IOP Publishing
ECU Libraries has a transformative agreement with IOP Publishing which will enable corresponding ECU authors to publish their articles open access in eligible IOP journals without cost. Research papers, special issues, letters, and review articles accepted on or after January 2, 2023 will be eligible. A list of eligible journals are available on the publisher’s Transformative Agreements page. Journal lists A, B, C, & D are eligible.
PLOS
ECU Libraries sponsor a membership agreement with PLOS which provides funding for corresponding authors who are affiliated with our university to publish their articles in a PLOS journal at no cost. Questions about the membership agreement may be directed to Joseph Thomas at thomasw@ecu.edu.
Sage
As part of a collaboration through the Carolina Consortium, ECU authors are eligible for a 10% discount on article processing charges for publications appearing in Sage open access journals. This discount will be applied automatically.
Springer Nature
ECU corresponding authors may publish open access articles in hybrid journals published by Springer Nature due to a new 2024 Carolina Consortium agreement. For a full list of eligible journals, please visit Springer Nature’s page.
This agreement has a limited amount of shared tokens between multiple institutions. It is possible that tokens may run out before the end of the year.
Wiley
As part of a collaboration through the Carolina Consortium, ECU corresponding authors will be given the option to make their article open access at no cost in any of Wiley’s hybrid and gold journals. To be eligible, corresponding authors must have a valid ECU email address. Wiley’s publication system should automatically recognize the provided ECU email for the corresponding author and offer an option for free open access publishing.
For Hybrid journals, eligibility is determined by the date of article acceptance. The article must be accepted on or after January 1, 2023 to qualify.
For Gold journals + Hindawi, eligibility is determined by the date of article submission. The article must be submitted on or after January 1, 2023 in order to qualify.
This agreement has a limited amount of shared tokens between multiple institutions. It is possible that tokens may run out before the end of the year. As of April 2024, tokens may be used up by September 2024.
Open Access Scholarly Infrastructure
Support of open access infrastructure is essential in making research more sustainable and open. ECU Libraries participate programs that make research and education freely available.
AIP Publishing
AIP Publishing has announced a Subscribe to Open pilot for two physics journals in 2024, Journal of Applied Physics and Physics of Plasmas. During this pilot program, commitment from subscribers, like ECU Libraries, will support the transition of these two journals to open access. More information about the program can be found on the AIP Publishing website.
Annual Reviews
ECU Libraries participate with other members of the Carolina Consortium in the “Subscribe to Open” option for Annual Reviews and helped convert 5 titles to open access journals in 2020. These titles include Annual Review of Cancer Biology, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science, Annual Review of Political Science, and Annual Review of Public Health.
Knowledge Unlatched
Knowledge Unlatched is a collective funding model for open monographs. Each collection of monographs are themed around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ECU is participating through collection SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities. For more information please visit the Knowledge Unlatched website.
Mathematical Sciences Publishers (MSP)
ECU Libraries is a supporter of MSP’s Subscribe to Open program which allows all 2023 articles free to read and without author charges for their five most established journals: Geometry & Topology, Algebraic & Geometric Topology, Algebra & Number Theory, Analysis & PDE, and Pacific Journal of Mathematics. For more information, please visit the MSP website.
MIT Press’s “Direct to Open”
ECU Libraries is a supporter of MIT Press’s “Direct to Open” program. The “Direct to Open” program allowed MIT Press to publish 80 open access scholarly monographs and edited collections. More information about the program and the 2022 open access titles, please visit MIT Press’s website.
Open Science Framework
Open Science Framework was developed by the Center for Open Science. OSF is an open source software that can be used as a research and collaboration workspace. OSF is an approved repository for shared data from NIH funded projects. Researchers can use their ECU credentials to use OSF.
Opening the Future
Opening the Future from CEU Press supports open monographs through collective library funding. ECU is participating in the Political Science, East Meets West, and History Packages. You can find more information on CEU Press’s website.
Path to Open
JSTOR’s Path to Open supports small and medium university presses in publishing open access books. Through this program libraries contribute funds toward publishing books open access across multiple publishers and multiple years. More information about this program can be found on JSTOR’s website.
SCOAP3
Our partnership with SCOAP3 through LYRASIS allows authors to publish free of charge in SCOAP3 journals. SCOAP3 journals focus on the field of High-Energy Physics. For a full list of available journals, please visit the SCOAP3 Journal page.
Memberships to Support Open Access Initiatives
ECU Libraries have memberships in organizations that support the advancement of open access, open education, and open data through various initiatives.
Lyrasis
ECU is a member of Lyrasis, an organization that provides services and support for open infrastructure and technologies. Lyrasis manages tools used by ECU Libraries like DSpace and ArchivesSpace.
The Open Education Network
The Open Education Network supports open education through community and collaboration. The OEN manages the Open Textbook Library and creates programs and resources to support open education. ECU is part of the UNC System OEN membership and an Allied member.
SPARC
SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, is a non-profit organization that supports open systems for research and education. SPARC specifically focuses on policies and programs related to open access, open education and open data.