The Leddy Library is signing agreements with academic journal publishers to make it easier for University of Windsor authors to publish their articles as Open Access. Open Access publishing allows authors to extend readership by reducing barriers to access, thereby increasing the impact and citability of the research.

“With these new forms of license agreements, the library pays for the Open Access article processing charges, which are common with commercial journal publishers,” said Pascal Calarco, Leddy Library’s scholarly communication librarian. “University of Windsor authors won’t have to worry about the financial implications of publishing in most journals from these publishers for the duration of the agreements.”

License agreements are in place with the publishers Wiley, SAGE, Cambridge University Press, and the Institute of Physics. Additionally, the library has also signed seven other agreements that offer authors a partial discount on the article processing charges.

“The license agreements that the library negotiates are expanding the reach of our research and helping off set the costs for UWindsor researchers,” says Selinda Berg, university librarian. “Over the past three years, university researchers have saved over $200,000 USD in article processing charges thanks to these agreements.”

Leddy Library has negotiated these agreements through its work with the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, the national network of research libraries. Working together, the libraries have been able to sign agreements where the money previously spent on read access has converted to cover the Open Access article processing charges, with no cap on publications.

“It’s imperative that universities recognize the urge to allocate proper budgets to support publication costs,” says Dorota Lubanska, adjunct professor in the Faculty of Science. “We are excited to find out that the Leddy Library negotiated the Open Access coverage for selected publishers, and we hope the list expands with time.”

The library is actively expanding its portfolio of license agreements to include Open Access publishing rights. As the publishing industry undergoes a profound shift toward Open Access, various licensing models are emerging. This transformation is driven by the evolving demands of funding agencies and the scholarly community worldwide.

“These types of agreements are just one path to Open Access, and University of Windsor researchers have other options available to them such as depositing manuscripts for free in the UWindsor institutional repository, Scholarship at UWindsor or publishing in a no-fee Open Access journal,” added Calarco.

To learn more about Open Access, including these types of agreements, UWindsor scholars are encouraged to visit the library’s website, or register for Navigating article publishing charges: from fee to free, an upcoming workshop.