11 Article Processing Charges

Some open access journals ask authors to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) to make their article open access. This is not true of every OA journal and authors should take the APC policy into consideration when selecting venues to publish.

Options for funding an APC include the following:

• Funders like TriAgency may allow researchers to include APCs in their grant requests.
• WSU Libraries has arranged subsidized APCs for certain publication venues. See the Libraries’ guide to Open Access Agreements for specifics.

If a journal charges an APC that the author cannot afford, the author can do the following:

• Select a different journal. See the Directory of Open Access Journals for options.
• Archive research materials in a repository. Check the Sherpa Romeo database for the publisher’s policy on self-archiving. If the publisher doesn’t allow self-archiving, consider negotiating the right to archive after publication.