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Open Access Research Publishing

Open Access (OA) refers to free, immediate, permanent, online access to digital full-text scientific and scholarly material, primarily research articles published in peer-reviewed journals. There are limited copyright and licensing restrictions on open-access articles, meaning that anyone with Internet access may read, download, copy, and/or distribute them. A primary advantage to authors who make their articles openly accessible is that their research impact is maximized due to a wider audience.

Resources for WVU Faculty

Transformative Read & Publish Agreements

Reduced Author Fees

The WVU Libraries have negotiated reduced fees if you publish your work in the following open access journals:

Author Fund— Discontinued

The WVU Libraries are committed to providing open access to research for anyone anywhere. In recent years the library has begun engaging in new read and publish agreements that will now have to be the manner in which we contribute financially to helping campus authors publish openly. The Libraries encourage you to include publication fees in grant requests and use University funding, such as the Eberly College Subvention Fund whenever possible. From 2016-2023, we offered an Open Access Author Fund (OAAF) which has been retired. Please see the above resources to support your open access publishing.

Predatory Journals

Beware of journals seeking your contributions via e-mail and then levying a fee for publication. These journals will not be listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals and will not have signed on to the various open access initiatives. Other warning signs:

Additional Resources and Information

Still not sure if Open Access is for you? Learn about:

Other great resources for open access information include: