Ohio University Libraries and OhioLINK make open access publishing more affordable for researchers

Ohio University Libraries, in partnership with OhioLINK, the state-wide library consortium, has been working to make open access publishing more affordable for researchers.

The OhioLINK transformative agreements with several publishers, which include Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, Cambridge and IOP, are ongoing. Additionally, Ohio University Libraries has an agreement with BioMed Central and SpringerOpen to offer OHIO researchers a 15% discount on all open-access journals.

For more information on all of the open accessing publishing agreements, please visit the Libraries’ Open Access Fees webpage.

Transformative agreements are contracts between libraries and publishers designed to transition from the current subscription-based model of scholarly publishing to a more open and sustainable one. These agreements typically include provisions to cover the costs of open access publishing for authors affiliated with participating institutions, including the number of article processing charges (APCs) that will be covered each year.

From January to July 2024, Ohio University Libraries confirms that 47 Ohio University articles have been published open access as a result of these transformative agreements. This accomplishment, achieved in just the first half of the year, represents a savings of $157,155 in article processing charges (APCs) for OHIO researchers.

Given this success, two publishers involved in OhioLINK transformative agreements have reached their open publishing waiver limits for the year. Elsevier has reached its annual capacity, and Wiley has only 10% of its waiver allocation remaining. Therefore, if you are considering publishing in one of the approved journals from Elsevier or Wiley, it may be advisable to wait until January 2025 to submit your work and receive an APC waiver.

More tips and eligibility criteria for Ohio University authors

1. Not all publishers’ journals are covered in the transformative agreement. Be sure you are submitting to a covered journal. Check all OhioLINK’s OA publishers at their author information page.
2. The OhioLINK affiliated author (including Ohio University) needs to be the corresponding author on the manuscript. That is the author who handles the manuscript and correspondence during the publication process. 
3. For most of the transformative agreement publishers, you will be asked to verify your APC coverage by verifying your OhioLINK affiliation after manuscript acceptance, during the editing process. Use your Ohio University email to submit. 
4. For some publishers, they will only support APC coverage for so many OhioLINK articles per year. This means there is a cap on how many APC-waived articles from OhioLINK institutions can be published per year. So, if you can submit earlier in the calendar year, the better.
   1. Please Note: Elsevier has reached its contracted calendar year limit for Ohio University for open access fee-waiving publishing agreement through OhioLINK. Wiley only has 10% left for 2024. Both publisher counts will re-start come January 2025. 
5. You do not have to be a faculty member to receive this benefit. 
6. Not sure how to proceed? Ask your librarian.

In addition to negotiating transformative agreements, Ohio University Libraries and OhioLINK also provide support and guidance to researchers on open access publishing, including information on open access journals, funding opportunities, and compliance with funder mandates for open access. This guide about open access options provides additional information.

For more information about Ohio University Libraries and OhioLINK's support for open access publishing costs, visit the Ohio University Libraries website.