Open Access Publishing Support for SMU Authors

Open Access (OA) is a publishing model for that allows readers to access research content for free. In the traditional subscription model, readers must pay to access journal articles or books, often through subscription by their library or by themselves.

However, the cost of publishing open access must be borne by someone, and the gold open access model involves payment of an article processing charge (APC) to have the work published open access on the publisher website. This can be a financial barrier for some, particularly those with no or limited funding.

There is a green open access model without additional charges, where the appropriate version of the publication is made available on an institutional repository, like InK.

The main benefit of open access is increased visibility of research which can lead to increased readership and higher citation rates.

The criteria to obtain APC support are:

• Article must be accepted in a journal that is ranked A or A* in the publication outlet list published and periodically revised by the Office of the Provost, in consultation with schools.
• SMU full-time faculty member is the corresponding author of the article. Alternatively, if the SMU staff, research staff or student is the corresponding author, a SMU full-time faculty must be one of the co-authors. Note: A corresponding author handles the manuscript and corresponds with the publisher throughout the publication process. In addition, corresponding author has the authority to act on behalf of all the co-authors on matters pertaining to publication.
• Authors declare that they do not have a research grant to cover the APC. SMU faculty who budgeted for APC in their research grants should use their grant instead of this fund.

The SMU corresponding author will receive an email notification of the acceptance of the article from the Editor.

Submit your request for APC support at this link and upload your acceptance email.

SMU Libraries will review the request and coordinate with the corresponding author to arrange payment of the APC.

Please ensure that the request is made and approved before completing the publishing workflow with the publisher.