Presentation at the SciELO SA User Group meeting Cape Town 29 July 2014 Speaker: Leti Kleyn

1. OPEN ACCESS FUNDING MODEL FOR
ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES (APCs)
Dr Leti Kleyn
Manager: Open Scholarship
Library Services, University of Pretoria
leti.kleyn@up.ac.za

2. OPEN ACCESS AT UP (i)
(i) Policy on University of Pretoria electronic theses and
dissertations (S 4844-46/08):
Because theses and dissertations are not formally published (grey
literature) it is even more important that the University itself should
provide access to them.
 8000+ currently in the UPSpace repository

3. (ii) Policy to provide open access to research papers authored by
University of Pretoria researchers (S 4845/08):
Making UP research freely available should be maximized to
increase the visibility and impact of this research for the
benefit of both researchers and the University.
 9000+ currently in the UPSpace repository
OPEN ACCESS AT UP (ii)

4. THE INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY (IR)
Research Articles
Conference proceeding
Special collections
ETDs
OPEN ACCESS AT UP (iii)

5. OPEN ACCESS AT UP (iv)
(iii) BioMedCentral (BMC) at UP
BMC Citations (Web of Knowledge, 2007–2013) indicates that citations for
articles on the BMC platform are indeed growing:
Published Items in Each Year Citation in Each Year

6. BMC AT UP
Year GBP Rand value Lowest/
Highest Price
Number of articles
2011 10 000 125 000 985.50
1057.50
3
2012 33 000 451 500 535.50
1183.00
22
2013 30 000 435 000 787.50
1183.50
34
2014 40 000 722 000
(30%)
1102.50
1183.50
21 +
30 (in process)
R1 733 500 average
R17 000
+/- 110

7. APCs AT UP (2013)
Faculty Open Access APCs
(estimations)
Open Access articles published
2012/2013 (as reflected on
UPSpace)
Economic & Management Sciences R160 000 75
Education R68 000 37
EBIT: School of Engineering * 38
EBIT: School of Information Technology R40 000 14
EBIT: School of the Built Environment < R 4000 14
Health Sciences R378 000 170
Humanities * 95
Law R150 000–R200 000 65
Natural & Agricultural Sciences R30 000–R40 000 172
Theology R410 000 107
Veterinary Sciences * 78
Totals R1 300 000
(excluding School of Engineering,
Humanities & Veterinary Sciences)
869

8. BENCHMARKING
Open Access Fund Funding available
University of Cape Town • Established APC Fund in
2014
• BMC & PLoS-
memberships
Requested R2 mil
University of Stellenbosch • US Open Access
Publication Fund (est.
July 2011)
• BMC-membership
R25 000 per researcher per
year (from HOPE Foundation
support of R2 mil)
University of the
Witwatersrand
• Limited to the Faculty of
Health Sciences

9. REASONING
Institutional support, through provision of funding
for APCs, will be based on criteria aligned with the
University’s strategic goals, specifically with respect
to enhancing the University’s international
reputation through recognition and impact of its
research. This means that support will be provided
for articles to be published in recognised, peer-
reviewed, international OA journals of high quality.
From: (3.4 Draft Policy on Open Access Publishing Article Processing Charges)

10. WEBOMETRICS
The original aim of the Ranking was to promote Web
publication. Supporting Open Access initiatives, electronic
access to scientific publications and to other academic
material are our primary targets.
(Webometrics Objectives, 2013)

11. THE BUSINESS MODEL
FUNDING
INSTITUTION
$ £ ¥ R

12. THE NEW (“IMPROVED”)
BUSINESS MODEL
$ £ ¥ R
FUNDING
INSTITUTION
FREE ACCESS

13. PUBLICATION FUND POLICY ISSUES
• Eligibility – faculty staff; researchers; postgraduate students.
• Co-authors (national vs. international).
• A pre-determined publication list of Open Access journals.
• Pre-funded research – e.g. grant, donor or faculty funding that
includes publication fees.
• Partial funding – only funding a percentage of the APCs (60%).
• UP publications – exclude articles published
in University of Pretoria Open Access Journals.
• Publication dates – only articles published
within the most recent calendar year.
• No embargoes (or other time restrictions).

14. SUGGESTED UP MODEL
A UP (Open Access) Publication Fund
earmarked with R2.9m for 2014
R900 000 for BMC + R2m
• obtained from the Library’s Information Resources Budget (capital
budget) for 2014
• to be administered by the Open Scholarship Office
• within the parameters of a Publication Fund Policy
• with the necessary divide to ensure funding throughout the year.
Sustaining this Publication Fund will
require additional funding annually

15. LET’S FACE THE REALITY
R10 836 000
R 405 540
R11 241 540.00
“The protest against academic journal publisher
Elsevier continues to grow explosively, with another
1,000 professors joining the 5,000 we reported
yesterday who have signed a petition vowing not to
peer-review or submit papers for any of the Dutch
publisher’s scientific journals.”
OA PAGE CHARGES:
$3 000 (hybrid model)
R32,157.31

16. OTHER POSSIBILITIES
• Support all initiatives from South African universities and
institutions to reduce APCs (Wits to lead on a nationwide project)
• Support all initiatives for Government and NRF to take a stand on
research output availability and APCs
• Renegotiate BMC fees together with other South African partners
• Develop an internal institutional system that supports the (free)
Green route optimal
• Rethink copyright and poke holes in embargos
• Consider the ethics of the situation (Africa)
• Join the revolution in support of affordable Open Access

17. you better start swimmin’ or you'll sink like a stone
for the times they are a-changin’
Bob Dylan