Scholarly Communications and Publishing Services

There are several options authors can use to fund article processing charging fees (APC) to publish journal articles in open access:

Grants and Sponsored Projects Awards

When applying for a grant, be sure to include open access funding for grant proposals if you are planning to publish your research. If you previously received funding, check with your funding agency to see if you can use funds to cover publication costs.

There are many places to search if you are seeking grant funding. The Division of Research (DOR) provides resources and guidance to faculty interested in exploring research grants opportunities.

The SPIN Funding Opportunity Database is another resource faculty, students, and staff  can use to find relevant programs available to fund all types of research. To access the database for the first time, you must register a SPIN Plus user profile by clicking “Need to create a new profile?” on the left side of the screen. You will be asked to select your institution (North Carolina A & T State University), then provide your full name, NCAT email address, and a username. After the registration request is approved, you will receive an email notification with a link to set your password. Please contact the Library should you need assistance. 

Individual Funds (start-up funds, research accounts, special funds associated with appointments)

Most faculty have funds available to cover travel, materials, equipment, publication costs, and other expenses associated with their work. Your academic unit might recommend (and in some cases require) that you expend these funds first before seeking additional funding at the level of your department or school/college.

Department Funds and Special Program in Departments

Departments and schools/colleges offer research incentive funds. While policies vary by unit, publication costs are generally accepted as an expense that can be covered using these funds. Some units also have unique opportunities for funding. Please consult with your department chair for additional information.

Discounts for North Carolina A&T State University Authors

As a part of the Carolina Consortium, F.D. Bluford Library has agreements with the following publishers that allows North Carolina A&T State University authors to publish in open access journals at a discounted rate or free of charge:

• Sage Journals - North Carolina A&T State University authors are eligible for a 10% discount on article processing charges (a fee publishers charge authors to publish in open access journals).  This discount will be applied automatically. Please visit https://journals.sagepub.com/gold-open-access-journals to review a list of OA journals offered by Sage.  

• Springer -  For calendar year 2024, authors affiliated with North Carolina A&T State University have the opportunity to publish open access articles in hybrid journals by Springer Nature using tokens. However, it's important to acknowledge that this agreement comes with a finite pool of shared tokens across various institutions. Therefore, there's a possibility that these tokens may be exhausted before the year ends. For a list of eligible journals, please visit Springer Nature’s page.

• Wiley - Through the Carolina Consortium, authors from North Carolina A&T State University can publish in most of Wiley's hybrid and gold journals without the need for any transactional open access article processing charge (APC).  In order to take advantage of this agreement, authors must enter a valid A&T email address. Wiley's publishing system should automatically identify the A&T email address and present an option for free open access publishing.
  Please note the following criteria: 

  • Wiley hybrid journals: your manuscript must have been accepted for publication on or after 1 January 2025
  • Wiley and Hindawi fully open access journals: your manuscript must have been submitted on or after 1 January 2025.
  • Exceptions: Not all Hindawi journals are part of the agreement; please check before you submit your article.

F.D. Bluford Library Open Access Publishing Fund

F.D. Bluford Library has limited funds to pilot a project to support A&T authors with APCs. This fund supports open access scholarship by A&T authors by paying article processing charges in open access journals. Funds will be awarded to eligible authors on a first come first serve basis, until funds are expended. Please review the guidelines below and complete the application form.

Guidelines

• The fund is available to Faculty and Graduate Students who have an article accepted by a fully Open Access Journal and have been unable to secure funding elsewhere.
• For a journal to be eligible, it must meet the following criteria
  • Peer reviewed and published by a reputable OA publisher
  • Have policies and practices consistent with the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association Code of Conduct
• Hybrid journals, or journals that have both open access articles and paid subscriptions, will not be funded
• Open book and chapter support will be evaluated on case by case basis for funding eligibility
• Funded articles must be placed in AGGIE Digital Collections and Scholarship upon publication
•  Funds are only approved upon article acceptance
• The Library asks that funding requests be submitted only if funding is needed during the current fiscal year
• Funds are limited and once the fund has been expended, new funds will not be available until the next fiscal year
• Due to limited funds, authors are only allowed one award per fiscal year
• The Library can decide not to fund APCs at its discretion