Open Access Publication Support Policy

Policy Details

Effective Date:

July 27, 2026

Responsible Authority:

Assistant Dean for Faculty Development

Applicability

This policy applies to all full-time faculty members of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine who seek institutional support for article processing charges (APCs) associated with scholarly publications.

Policy Statement

The College of Medicine supports the broad dissemination of scholarly work while exercising responsible stewardship of institutional resources. Faculty, residents, fellows, postdoctoral scholars, and other eligible employees are encouraged to pursue publication strategies that maximize scientific impact, accessibility, and compliance with sponsor requirements.

When comparable scholarly visibility and impact can be achieved, authors are encouraged to consider publication venues that do not require article processing charges (APCs), including subscription-based journals and Diamond Open Access journals.

This policy establishes a fair, transparent, and consistent framework for institutional support of APCs associated with publication in eligible open access journals.

Definitions

• Article Processing Charge (APC): A fee charged by a publisher to make a scholarly article openly accessible upon publication.
• Diamond Open Access Journal: An open access journal that provides immediate public access to published articles without charging APCs to authors.
• Hybrid Journal: A subscription-based journal that offers authors the option to make individual articles open access upon payment of an APC.
• Open Access Journal: A journal that provides unrestricted public access to published scholarly articles.
• Predatory Journal: A publication that lacks recognized standards for editorial quality, peer review, or publishing ethics and is therefore ineligible for institutional APC support.

Responsibilities

Faculty Members

Prior to requesting funds, faculty should attempt to gain publication in non-APC journals. In order of preference, it is suggested that faculty try:

• Diamond Open Access journals that do not charge APCs.
• High-quality subscription journals that do not require APCs.
• Fully Open Access journals with established reputations, rigorous peer-review practices, and strong scientific impact. (see next section for examples)

When requesting APC support from the Chair, applicants should document prior submission to scholarly journals that do not require APCs. When prior reviews have been received, applicants should provide evidence that substantive reviewer comments have been addressed before institutional funding is requested.

Exceptions may be granted when one or more of the following is met:

• The selected journal is uniquely appropriate for the target audience
• Compliance with funder requirements necessitates open access publication
• No suitable non-fee publication alternative is reasonably available

Department Chairs

• Review and approve eligible APC requests within delegated funding limits ($3000 per article, with a maximum of one funded publication per faculty member per academic year).
• Ensure requests comply with this policy.
• Submit annual reports to the Dean's Office summarizing APC expenditures and publication metrics.

Dean

• Review and approve requests exceeding established funding limits or exceptions to policy requirements.

Procedures

• Faculty should first pursue publication in journals that do not require APCs whenever appropriate.
• If institutional APC support is requested, faculty must:
  • demonstrate eligibility; document prior consideration of non-APC publication venues when required;
  • obtain pre-approval from the Department Chair before publication costs are incurred.
• Requests are evaluated based on:
  • scientific impact and visibility
  • Alignment with the intended audience
  • Funder or sponsor requirements
  • Public dissemination considerations
  • Other compelling scholarly reasons.
• APC reimbursement is limited to approved funding levels unless an exception is authorized by the Dean.
• Following publication, recipients must submit proof of payment, the final APC invoice, the published article citation, and DOI or PMID, if available.
• Department Chairs shall submit annual APC funding reports to the Dean's Office by June 1 of each academic year.

Recognizing their exceptional visibility, select high-impact open access journals may be considered for APC support without evidence of multiple prior journal rejections.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• BMC Medicine
• BMJ Open
• JAMA Network Open
• Lancet Digital Health
• Lancet Global Health
• Nature Portfolio Open Access Journals
• PLOS journals
• Science Advances

Applicants are nevertheless encouraged to demonstrate that the chosen journal is appropriate for the scope, quality, and intended audience of the work.

Pre-approval for APC is required, as outlined above. Once approved, institutional funds may be used only for article processing charges and related publication fees that fall within approved funding limits.

Recipients must submit all of the following:

• Proof of payment
• Final APC invoice
• Published article citation
• DOI or PMID, when available.

Requests exceeding approved limits may be partially funded or denied.

By June 1 of each academic year, Department Chairs shall provide the Dean's Office with a summary report containing:

Department-Level Metrics

• Total number of APC-funded publications
• Total APC expenditures
• Proportion of APC-funded publications relative to subscription-based and no-fee open access publications.

Publication-Level Information
For each APC-funded article:

• Faculty member or employee receiving support
• Author role (e.g., first author, senior author, corresponding author)
• Article title
• Journal name
• DOI and/or PMID
• APC amount requested
• APC amount approved and paid
• Names of any student, resident, fellow, or postdoctoral coauthors