Open Access Publishing Workshop: Empowering Researchers

The Open Access (OA) Publishing workshop was a resounding success, drawing 11 enthusiastic attendees eager to learn about the various avenues available for publishing scholarly articles. Held from 10:00 to 11:00 on Wednesday, 5 June 2024, the workshop provided valuable insights into how Open Access can be leveraged as a powerful tool for increasing the visibility and impact of research.

 

The workshop was led by Mrs. Khawulile Radebe, who guided participants through the intricacies of Open Access publishing. This workshop marked the first in a series of June offerings from the Research Commons, and it proved to be both informative and engaging. The session began with an explanation of how the Open Access Fund operates at the University of Pretoria. Mrs. Radebe detailed how the Department of Library Services administers this fund to subsidise Article Processing Charges (APCs) for articles published in accredited and peer-reviewed Open Access journals. Depending on the journal, the fund will reimburse either 50% or 60% of the total APC paid. Further details on the APC guidelines can be found here.

 

Mrs. Radebe also highlighted the University of Pretoria's Open Access Policy, which provides clear guidance on the procedures for Open Access publishing for both staff and students. She encouraged authors to review this policy and the associated guidelines to fully benefit from the opportunities available when publishing in Open Access journals.

 

In her presentation, Mrs. Radebe emphasised the vital role that UP researchers play in the global research community. As contributors to the body of knowledge, they are the future innovators, researchers, and educators. She also introduced the concept of transformational agreements - contracts negotiated between institutions (libraries, national and regional consortia) and publishers - that shift the business model from subscription-based access to one that fairly compensates publishers for Open Access publishing services. Mrs. Radebe was pleased to announce that several new transformational agreements have been signed for the 2023–2025 period with publishers such as the American Chemical Society, ScienceDirect, and Springer Nature. Additionally, many gold OA journals and Hindawi journals were added to the Wiley agreement in early 2023. These agreements offer UP authors the opportunity to publish in 6,545 journals without incurring article processing charges. However, it is crucial to verify that the journals on the transformational agreements list are also on the accredited journals list.

 

The workshop concluded with a handy summary in the form of a to-do list for authors seeking to locate an appropriate Open Access journal.

 

For more information about the Research Commons workshops or any other inquiries, please contact us via email at [email protected].