Open Access Fund

Funding Support for Publishing Open Access

Open access publishing offers wider dissemination, higher visibility, and faster discovery of published research. The UC Davis Library offers funding support to encourage authors to publish open access.

Fund Description

The UC Davis Open Access Fund is a library reimbursement program that supports members of the UC Davis academic community who want to make their journal articles or book chapters free to all readers immediately upon publication. 

The Open Access Fund began as a pilot in October 2012, with initial funding from the California Digital Library (CDL). The UC Davis Library continues to provide these funds to UC Davis authors interested in publishing open access. The library tracks how the funds are spent, and the success and sustainability of the fund continues to be evaluated. Its chief goals are to foster greater dissemination of the work of UC Davis scholars and encourage author control of copyright.

UC Davis is one of four UC campus libraries that offers an open access publishing fund.

Eligibility Requirements

Any author with a UC Davis affiliation is eligible for the fund (faculty, graduate students, residents, staff, etc.) The fund will reimburse authors up to $1,000 per article for open access article processing charges (APCs), or for fees paid to publish open access book chapters.

All applicants must have:

• A valid University Common Funds Number 13U00 at the time of application. If you do not, please get in touch with your Department Financial Contact.

All funded works must be:

• Published in full open access journals or in full open access books;
  • Note: Articles in full open access journals that are covered under one of the University of California open access agreements with academic publishers will not be supported by the UC Davis Open Access Fund.
• Either (1) published no earlier than 12 months prior to, or (2) have an anticipated publication date within 6 months of, the UC Davis Open Access Fund application date; and
• Made freely available at the time of initial publication, with no embargo periods.

Proof of acceptance/publication must be provided (i.e., copy of acceptance letter/email or link to published full text).

Note: These funds are not to cover color charges, page charges, illustration charges, or submission charges.

Application Procedures

Step 1: Apply

This application form will allow us to make a preliminary determination regarding your eligibility and reply with a request for further materials as required.

Apply for the Open Access Fund

Note: To complete the online application, applicants must enter a valid University Common Funds Number 13U00. If you have any questions, please get in touch with your Department Financial Contact.

Step 2: Acceptance

Once your application has been approved, we will send an email notification to you requesting a copy of the letter stating that your article has been accepted for publication. Alternatively, you can provide a link to the full text if available. You can send the copy or link in a separate email or paste it into the Note field in the application form.

Step 3: Reimbursement

Once your acceptance letter has been received by us, your funds will be disbursed via interdepartmental transfer, to the University Common Funds Number 13U00 you provided in your application. Our financial department will use the financial contact you provided in your application form, and will usually process the transaction within 10 to 15 business days.

Frequently Asked Questions