Open Access Fees and Mandatory Page Charges
Last Update on: 01 August 2023
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- Purpose
- Scope
- Definitions and Acronyms
- Objectives
- Eligibility Criteria
- Benefits
- Application Documentation
- Review and Evaluation
- Acknowledgments
- Implementation, Compliance, and Reporting
- Compliance and Performance Indicators
- Document Amendment Information
1. PURPOSE
The purpose of these guidelines is to support the administration of the Open Access Charges (APC) and Mandatory Page Charges.
2. SCOPE
- These guidelines apply to the payment of mandatory open access charges and mandatory extra page charges, or other mandatory charges required by publishers to disseminate research outputs online.
- These guidelines apply to all KFUPM faculty and researchers.
3. DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS
| 1. Definitions | |
|---|---|
Open Access | A set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are disseminated online, free of cost or other access barriers. |
Page charge | An article processing charge, also known as a publication charge, is sometimes charged to authors. Most commonly, it is for extra pages’ length. |
| Project | A product of an approved research proposal that is scientifically reviewed by a competent body and has an allocated fund administered by DROC. It generally seeks to systematically investigate a problem through scientific methodologies conforming to academic best practices to achieve the defined research objectives. |
| Proposal | A detailed and structured request for funding prepared in accordance with the sponsor’s instructions and requirements. |
| Q1 and Q2 | The top 25%, and between top 25% to 50% respectively of journals in a particular category ranked by journal impact factor in Journal Citation Report by Clarivate and Web of Science |
| 2. Acronyms | |
|---|---|
| DROC | Deanship of Research Oversight and Coordination |
| KFUPM | King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals |
4. OBJECTIVES
- KFUPM recognizes the importance of supporting its faculty and researchers toward publishing in high-quality journals as well as in open-access journals.
- The Open Access Fees and Mandatory Page Charges support encourage faculty and researchers to publish their research outcomes in high quality journals by covering mandatory open access fees/extra page charges requested by journals.
5. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
5.1 Applicant Eligibility
- Faculty members and researchers at KFUPM are eligible to apply for Open Access Fees and Mandatory Page Charges Support
- Applicants are eligible where their paper has:
- a majority of authors affiliated to KFUPM; or
- at least 50% and the first/corresponding authors from KFUPM.
Where this applicant's eligibility criteria are not met, the support will cover partially up to the percentage of KFUPM authors.
5.2 Publication Eligibility
- Faculty members and researchers at KFUPM are encouraged to carefully select their open-access journal before submitting their scholarly work.
- Organizations such as the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) provide guidance to faculty members and researchers selecting open-access journals of integrity. Some of the indicators of a reliable open-access journal are reputable editorial board, the integrity of the peer review process, and a clear policy on conflicts of interest.
- This program provides support where a paper is accepted for publication in a Q1 or Q2 journal as per the Journal Citation Report by Clarivate (https://jcr.clarivate.com/jcr/home), noting that:
- Ranking reported in the Journal Citation Report at the time of publication will be considered.
- Where a new Journal Citation Report is released at a later date, this updated ranking may be used.
- The maximum number of applications that can be submitted within a fiscal year are as follows:
- One paper for any active KFUPM faculty & researchers
- Two additional papers for affiliates with interdisciplinary Research Center, subject to:
- availability of funds in the baseline fund; or
- availability of funds in the respective internally-funded research grants.
- For affiliates or non-affiliates with externally-funded projects, no limits, subject to availability of funds through the external grant.
- The maximum amount reimbursed towards extra page charges will be USD $1500 per fiscal year as a total sum.
- The full budget allocation for payment can be utilized, up to a maximum of one year from the non-IRC project end date, subject to the availability of funds under the specific budget head “Publication”.
- The Support of journals published by MDPI will be only once per fiscal year.
6. BENEFITS
7. APPLICATION DOCUMENTATION
The applicant should submit the invoice, receipt, and bank statement, and the paper itself.
8. REVIEW AND EVALUATION
The request for a support will be considered and the applicants advised accordingly.
9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Proper acknowledgment of KFUPM affiliation and any research grant support (along with the project number where applicable) in all publications and other outcomes is mandatory. In the case of multi-project acknowledgment, the support will cover partially up to the percentage of project contributors.
10. IMPLEMENTATION, COMPLIANCE, AND REPORTING
- DROC shall implement these guidelines.
- DROC shall monitor the allocation of funds for open access fees and mandatory page charges.
- Non-compliance with any provision in these guidelines shall be reported to the DROC.
11. COMPLIANCE AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
In monitoring and reviewing the implementation of these guidelines, the following compliance and performance indicators shall be used:
- Number of KFUPM authors supported each year;
- Total funds allocated each year to cover open access fees and mandatory page charges;
- Number of publications in Q1 journals as per the Journal Citation Report by Clarivate each year;
- Number of publications in Q2 journals as per the Journal Citation Report by Clarivate each year.
12. DOCUMENT AMENDEMTN INFORMATION
| Version # | Amendment Date | Amendment Description |
| 1 | Month, date, year |