Libraries increasingly fund open access fees

Academic libraries are getting ever more involved in the cataloguing and funding of Gold Open Access (GOA) publications, according to a new survey by industry consultancy, Publishers Communication Group (PCG), Boston. Gold Open Access, though generally understood as the freely-accessible, “author pays” model, may actually be covered by sources such as grant funders, employer subsidies or institutional library budgets, the study confirmed.

Seeking to bridge the perspectives of PCG’s publisher and library customers, the survey of 150 librarians from 30 different countries found that at present, the responsibility for funding article processing charges (APCs) is still more likely to fall on the author (47%) or granting organization (38%) than the institution (24%) or library. However, nearly a quarter of respondents stated that the library does provide funding for APCs, which often comes from existing library materials budget. It was estimated that this cost equates to less than one percent of the budget for traditional subscriptions, with 19 percent of institutions establishing a ceiling for APCs, typically ranging from $2,000-3,000.