Open Access fee requests

Procedure for requesting central funding for an APC (Article Processing Charge) or Open Access fee

Who can apply for an Open Access Fee?

Applications are welcome from any research project, though the application from any project should be made (and resolved) before a manuscript is submitted to a publisher/publication.

If a project is not funded by UKRI / RCUK then an application for an Open Access Fee would need a strong rationale to be successful - this rationale should first be discussed with your Research Lead before making an application. 

Application process

1. Researchers / authors to complete the Open Access fee /  APC request form. 

   • Note 1: applications from all research projects should be made (and resolved) before the manuscript (article, book, chapter, etc) is submitted to the publisher or publication. 

   • Note 2: research projects funded by UKRI / RCUK should use this support service to determine whether a journal/publisher is compliant with the UKRI Open Access policy before making an application for an Open Access Fee.

2. The Scholarly Communications Team (openaccess@brookes.ac.uk) administer the request and forward it to the Associate Dean of Research and Knowledge Exchange of the researcher's faculty and to the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Global Partnerships.

3. The Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Global Partnerships and the Associate Dean of Research and Knowledge Exchange decide on whether to approve the request and email the decision to the researcher and the Scholarly Communications team. 

   • The kinds of factors that influence a decision include the likelihood of the output being submitted to the next REF, the likely 'star' rating of the research were it submitted to REF, the likely research 'impact' (both academic and non-academic), the amount of money remaining in the budget for Open Access Fees, and what alternative opportunities there are to publish with other journals or publishers of a similar reputation but without having to pay an Open Access Fee.

4. The Scholarly Communications team liaise with the researcher regarding the payment of the APC / Open Access fee or (if the request is not approved) to discuss alternative Open Access publishing options.

December 2021