## [Open Access Fund](/open-access-fund) Researchers looking for support for other publishing-related costs should apply to the Scholarly Publication Fund. [Learn more](/scholarly-publication-fund "Scholarly Publication Fund") The Open Access Fund assists faculty members to pay fees, sometimes known as article processing charges (APCs), associated with publishing in open access books and journals. It is open to researchers at UBC Vancouver and Okanagan in SSHRC-aligned disciplines. The Open Access Fund supports the costs of making books or journal articles openly accessible, that is, accessible without subscription or paywalls. [Open access](https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/interagency-research-funding/policies-and-guidelines/open-access/tri-agency-open-access-policy-publications-2015) is a requirement of many funding agencies and enables wide dissemination of university research. An individual author or individual work is only eligible to receive a set maximum award amount of $4000 through the Open Access Fund each academic year. Authors are responsible for paying publishers any amount beyond this limit. A total of $75,000 is available through the fund each academic year. The fund aims to support research and scholarship aligned with [SSHRC’s General Guidelines for Eligibility of Subject Matter for SSHRC and Eligibility of Applications Related to Health](http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/apply-demande/background-renseignements/selecting_agency-choisir_organisme_subventionnaire-eng.aspx#af2). Starting **September 28th, 2026,** the Fund will take applications any time during the academic year until it is exhausted. Available support for each application depends upon funding and is not guaranteed. A total of $75,000 is available through the fund. ### Eligibility Applicants must be at UBC Vancouver or UBC Okanagan and must be the primary (submitting or corresponding) author of the work to be published. They should be - tenure-track faculty at UBC Vancouver or UBC Okanagan in the [Research Stream](https://www.facultyassociation.ubc.ca/members/research-stream/) or [Educational Leadership Stream](https://www.facultyassociation.ubc.ca/members/educational-leadership-stream/), - librarians and archivists with confirmed/confirmation-track appointments, and - priority will be given to early career researchers. UBC authors who are not a primary (submitting or corresponding) author are not eligible, and should encourage the work’s primary author to seek alternate funding sources. Term, visiting, affiliate, honorary and emeritus faculty; lecturers, postdoctoral fellows and research associates; staff members; and students are ineligible. #### **Submitted works** To be eligible to receive support from the Open Access Fund, works must be: - peer-reviewed publications (journal articles, books, book chapters) - already accepted for publication at the time of applying for the fund, and - related to research areas supported by a SSHRC grant or align with the SSHRC subject-matter eligibility guidelines. Other subject disciplines are ineligible and should seek alternate funding sources. Research funded solely by NSERC and/or CIHR is ineligible. Applicants can receive a maximum of $4,000 per academic year, but must submit separate applications for each accepted work for which they are requesting funds. ##### Eligible publications ##### Journal articles Authors are free to publish in the peer-reviewed journal of their choice, including journals that are fully open access or subscription journals that charge a fee/APC for open access. To be eligible for the fund, the article(s) must be made openly accessible immediately upon publication with no embargo. As general guidance, open access journals should be those who meet criteria for inclusion in the [Directory of Open Access Journals](http://doaj.org/). Authors should make every effort to ensure they do not pay fees to publications that do not follow accepted scholarly or editorial practices (i.e., predatory journals).  Requests to pay APCs from journals that appear predatory will be rejected. - See: [Evaluating Open Access Journals: Ensure You’re Submitting to a Legitimate Journal](https://guides.library.ubc.ca/publishjournalarticle/predatory). ##### **Books** Eligibility for books will be decided on a case-by-case basis.  The following criteria will be considered: - Books supported should be openly accessible immediately upon digital publication. - In the case of contributed chapters to a multi-author volume, the entire volume must be published on an open access basis in order for individual chapters to be considered for funding. - Books and book chapters must be published by reputable, peer-reviewed, scholarly presses. - Previously published works being converted to open access must be complete versions of the prior work and the open access is not time limited. #### **Discounts and other funding** Funds will be awarded only when no other (grant, departmental) funding is available to the author for the purpose of publishing in open access journals etc. Applicants should exhaust other funding sources that support open access charges before applying. When applying to the Open Access Fund, applicants should also consider and account for discounts already available through UBC Library’s memberships with prominent open access publishers as listed on the UBC Library site. - See: [requesting funds for open access charges in your grant applications](https://scholcomm-7june2017.sites.olt.ubc.ca/open-access-charges-in-grant-proposals/) - See: [UBC Library Open Access & Publication Discounts](https://scholcomm.ubc.ca/open-access-publisher-discounts/) Failure to apply eligible discounts or grant funding may delay application results and payment to publishers. Other campus funds, such as CTLT’s[ SOTL Dissemination Fund](https://isotl.ctlt.ubc.ca/services/sotl-dissemination-fund/?login) or Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies’ [Graduate Student fund](https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/graduate-student-travel-fund) should also be considered, where applicable. ##### **Requests exceeding $4,000 CAD** The Fund will only pay a maximum of $4,000 CAD, regardless if the fee to be paid exceeds that amount. Applicants must arrange to pay any remaining balance using a separate source of funds (usually via payment originating in the Department) and identify this source in their application. ### How to apply To apply to the Open Access Fund, the applicant must log in to VPRI’s online application system, [UBC Research + Innovation Apply](https://apply.research.ubc.ca/) using their campus wide login (CWL), and follow the instructions provided. Applications will be accepted **until the funds are exhausted** or August 31, 2027. Applicants should consider/exhaust other sources of funding before applying to this fund. ###### Instructions: Adding multiple authors to the application portal Once an application has been initiated by the primary author, they may invite others with a CWL to contribute using the “add collaborator” button located in the left side block. Applications can be saved and completed at a later date before final submission, and can be downloaded as a PDF at any time. Each section must be marked as complete before the applicant can submit the application. Sections marked as complete can be re-opened for editing, prior to submission, by clicking on the three dots in the upper right corner of the section and selecting “edit task”. ##### Application Components - Applicant information - Information about the work - [Letter of acknowledgement](/media/file/letter-acknowledgement-scholarly-publication-and-open-access-funds "Letter of Acknowledgement - Scholarly Publication and Open Access funds") signed by the Department/Unit Head - Copy of the publisher invoice or journal payment request  **Important:** Please ensure the following invoicing standards are met:  - Be billed to the applicant, with the University of British Columbia (UBC) included in the billing address. - Include the title of the work and specify that the charge is for ‘open access’. [START APPLICATION](https://apply.research.ubc.ca/) ##### Fund disbursement & terms All applicants will receive notification about the status of their application within 30 business days (approx. 5 weeks). Host Departments/Faculties of applicants with approved applications will be notified to submit an accounting journal for cost recovery from VPRI, in Workday (as referenced in the signed [Letter of Acknowledgement](/media/file/letter-acknowledgement-scholarly-publication-and-open-access-funds "Letter of Acknowledgement - Scholarly Publication and Open Access funds")).Following VPRI Finance approval, fund recipients may then pay costs through their home Department/Faculty. Payments from the fund can be made for costs incurred one year prior to, or one year following, the award date. Applicants can only receive a maximum of $4,000 from the Open Access Fund per academic year. If the work is not published for any reason after an award has been disbursed, the recipient must return the funds to the VPRI within 60 days of receiving notification that the work is not to be published. Support from the Open Access Fund should be acknowledged in the publication. Successful applicants are requested to deposit a copy of supported articles into[ cIRcle](https://circle.ubc.ca/about/faq/?login#What_types_of_materials_can_I_deposit_in_cIRcle.3F), UBC’s research repository. ###### Contact [Stacey Herzer](/about-vpri/staff-directory/stacey-herzer "Stacey Herzer")  Manager, Internal Research Competitions  Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation