The University’s 2017-18 OA Block Grant from RCUK has now been exhausted and no funds remain for paying either APCs (Article Processing Charges) or page/publication charges for RCUK-funded researchers. A new allocation will be available from 1st April 2018. Heads of Department have been notified today by the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research & Innovation.
RCUK-funded authors at Oxford are th
erefore asked to delay submission of new articles to journals until 1st February 2018 so that invoicing falls into next year’s budget, and contact the Bodleian APC Team pre-submission (see our RCUK Block Grant page for procedure).
This primarily affects researchers wishing to publish in fully open access journals. Oxford’s block grant will only pay APCs for fully OA journals (ie in the Directory of Open Access Journals), not ‘hybrid’ journals (subscription journals with a paid OA option). Longer embargo periods for the ‘green’ route are permissible where RCUK APC funding is unavailable (12 months STEM, 24 months humanities & social sciences), as explained in our Meeting RCUK requirements table and question 2.2 of the RCUK FAQ.
RCUK has stated that funding for APCs and other publication charges will continue for at least a further 2 years (April 2018-March 2020). Note that RCUK does not permit APCs or page/other publication charges to be paid from individual RCUK awards.
If you have any queries please email the OA Enquiry Team at openaccess@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
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