Action required: New spend category for publishing fees - Open Access Only (SC797)
May 31, 2023
Summary
For improved monitoring of open access publishing costs, a new spend category has been created called “Publishing Fees- Open Access only (SC797).” Currently, units may have been using the existing “Publishing Fees – (not Open Access) (SC269)” to capture both open access and non-open access related publication charges. Effective immediately, departments are being asked to split publishing costs into two different spend categories (open access vs. not), when processing accounts payable transactions.
Publication Charges
|
Open Access |
Non-open Access |
|
Use ”Publishing Fees- Open Access only (SC797)” |
Use ”Publishing Fees – (not Open Access) (SC269)” |
|
SC Definition - Article Processing Charge (APC), or Author Publishing Charge, is a fee charged to cover the cost of publication in an open access or hybrid open access publication (e.g., journal, books). In addition to article processing charges, the spend category may include book processing charges (BPC) or other charges that cover the costs of open access publishing. |
SC Definition - Page charges or fees paid (except Article Processing Charges captured in a separate spend category) for publishing in a journal, book, or other publication. These charges may include but are not limited to copyright clearance fees, copy editing fees, page charges, abstract fees, and indexing fees. For open access fees, refer to Publishing Fees- Open Access only (SC797). |
Details
Scholarly publications, such as peer-reviewed journal articles, are increasingly published open access: openly available online. Open access shifts publishing cost from readers and consumers who pay to read the content, typically via a subscription, to authors and producers who pay for the publication to be immediately publicly available and at no cost to read. Article Processing Charges (APCs) are a prominent method for funding open access publishing. The same funding model can also be applied to books and other forms of publication.
Publishers are moving toward funding models using APCs and similar charges in response to European research funding organizations, grant funder mandates, and U.S. federal regulations requirements around open access publication.
Yale Library finds itself in a new position of negotiating agreements with publishers that both provide access to content and allow Yale authors to publish open access with no or discounted APCs. For the library to negotiate these types of agreements more effectively, we need a fuller understanding of open access charges and fees paid across the university. Using the new Open Access Publication Charge spend category will provide needed financial data for the library to negotiate more favorable open access agreements on behalf of Yale.
Action Items
- Review open Workday purchase orders (POs) charged to SC269 and change the spend category, if needed, to split out open access fees.
- Lead administrators and operations managers to educate and train business office and other administrative staff on appropriate use of either SC269 (not open access) or SC797 (open access).
Additional Information
Please consult with the Yale Library Scholarly Communication and Information Policy unit for assistance with determining whether publication costs should be considered open access.
Please visit the Yale’s Chart of Accounts (COA) website for Spend Categories-Definitions and additional information on appropriate use of COA segments.