By Karen Gutzman, Research and Impact Librarian

Open access (OA) publishing can present a myriad of options and challenges to authors. Though many funders require research outputs to be made publicly accessible, there are authors who wish to publish OA regardless of any funder-related mandate. These authors have many decisions to make, including selecting appropriate OA journals and deciding which type of OA publishing suits their needs. Ultimately, the decision to publish OA can be hindered by the requirement and cost of article processing fees. Below are ways Northwestern University provides support for authors publishing with OA in mind.

Northwestern University’s current yearly-subscription to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides corresponding authors a discounted open access fee of $1,100. This is a savings compared to the regular fee ($1,450) and makes the articles immediately free online. Authors of accepted papers should note the reduced fee ($1,100) on the PNAS billing forms included with the author proofs.

See PNAS in Scopus, along with its CiteScore.

Recent examples of FSM authors in PNAS:

Feng G, Ingvalson EM, Grieco-Calub TM, Roberts MY, Ryan ME, Birmingham P, Burrowes D, Young NM, Wong PCM. Neural preservation underlies speech improvement from auditory deprivation in young cochlear implant recipients. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018;115(5):E1022-31.

Smith BM, Traboulsi H, Austin JHM, et al. (including Liu K). Human airway branch variation and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018;115(5):E974-81.

Gaydosh L, Schorpp KM, Chen E, Miller GE, Harris KM. College completion predicts lower depression but higher metabolic syndrome among disadvantaged minorities in young adulthood. 2018;115(1):109-14.

Northwestern University’s subscription to BMJ Case Reports allows authors (called “fellows”) to read, submit, and publish case reports free of cost. However, there is a £250 article processing fee to make the case report open access. Contact Galter Library for the current “fellowship” number in order to submit case reports for the journal.

See BMJ Case Reports in Scopus, along with its CiteScore.

Recent examples of FSM authors in BMJ Case Reports:

Tibrewala A, Freed BH, Akhter N. Importance of temporal changes in myocardial strain in takotsubo cardiomyopathy. BMJ Case Rep. 2017.

Schneider AL, Hicks KE, Matsuoka AJ. Cervical oesophageal perforation secondary to food consumption in a well-appearing patient. BMJ Case Rep. 2017.

Webster G, Schoppen ZJ, George AL. Treatment of calmodulinopathy with verapamil. BMJ Case Rep. 2017

The Northwestern University Open Access Fund supports Northwestern scholars who wish to make their journal articles openly available immediately upon publication. Authors must publish in a journal that publishes all of its articles as open access and allows for freely available access immediately upon publication, with no embargo of any content. See the fund’s website for more information.

Please note: Beginning in September 2023, Northwestern Libraries will shift support for Open Access publishing to institutional-level initiatives. The final day to apply for individual APCs through the Open Access Fund is July 31, 2023. Read more in this announcement.

If you have any questions about publishing in OA journals, please contact your Galter liaison librarian for assistance.