Open Access Publishing at the University of Notre Dame

The shift from print to digital publishing has had a profound impact on the way scholarship is created, reviewed, shared, and disseminated.

Traditional publishing models, in which reader access is provided via personal or institutional subscriptions, now coexist with open access (OA) publishing models in which the cost of publishing is the responsibility of the content creator, allowing the reader to access the content freely. Removing access barriers to this scholarship allows for greater participation in the research process, leading to new knowledge and breakthroughs(SPARC, Open Access). 

This guide provides information on how the Hesburgh Libraries is supporting OA publishing via its relationships with specific publishers and journals. The Hesburgh Libraries has negotiated partial discounts with some publishers and 100% discounts with others. Arrangements for 100% discounts are called "transformative agreements." Click below to see our list of discounts and transformative agreements.  

• Open Access Publishing Partial Discounts
• Open Access Transformative Agreements

It also provides an overview of existing academic publishing models.

For more information, please contact hl-oa-publishing-list@nd.edu.

Open access (OA) publishing is more than access to scholarly content. It indicates the degree to which that work can be reused and shared, and addresses the intellectual property questions related to that content.

The "HowOpenIsIT? Open Access Guide provides a summary of OA terminology and concepts. It can be used as a reference when evaluating individual journal policies related to access, reuse, sharing, and copyright questions. To download the complete guide, click on the link above, or on the graphic shown below.

For a more detailed overview of open access publishing options, see this 2020 article from the Society for Scholarly Publishing's Scholarly Kitchen blog.

Adapted from "What are the different types of open access?" created by Open Access Australasia and licensed under a CC-BY license.

Hesburgh Libraries currently supports OA publishing using the following methods:

• Discounts on Article Processing Charges (APCs) and fees through existing institutional memberships or subscriptions
• Self-archiving of specific publication versions through our repository, CurateND
• Waivers for APCs through institutional participation in transformative license agreements with specific publishers

A list of these discounts and waivers can be found here.

The library does not provide direct funding for APCs. We recommend that faculty seek funding from their department chairs or deans if the options listed above do not apply to their situation. Faculty may also consider applying to other institutes on campus.

Many publishers offer fee assistance programs which could include additional discounts or waivers if certain conditions are met. It's also important to note that many OA journals do not charge APCs or other fees. See the Directory of Open Access Journals or the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) for more information about specific journals.