May 20, 2025

This message is distributed to All Instructors, Non-Senate Academics, Postdoctoral Scholars, and Graduate Student Researchers. (Click here to view description of distribution groups.)

The following is being sent on behalf of UCSB Library (library-openaccess@ucsb.edu)
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Dear Faculty and Researchers,

The UCSB Library has decided to pause its Open Access (OA) Publishing Fund for one year beginning July 1, 2025. To prepare for this temporary pause, we will stop accepting new applications as of June 1, 2025. This decision is informed by anticipated campus budget reductions and the increasing availability of OA publishing support through UC systemwide agreements with more than twenty major journal publishers. During the pause, the Library will evaluate the fund’s sustainability and future direction.

Established in 2019 following a successful 2012–2016 pilot program, the UCSB OA Publishing Fund has provided essential support to UCSB authors without access to other funding for article processing charges (APCs). While the Library has proudly maintained this commitment locally, the UC has increasingly prioritized transformative agreements with publishers, enabling authors systemwide to publish open access at reduced or no cost.

During the pause, UCSB authors are encouraged to continue leveraging existing UC-systemwide OA publisher agreements. To check whether a specific journal is included, we recommend using UC’s new Journal Open Access Lookup Tool (JOLT). Additionally, a new UC-wide OA publishing fund is expected to launch in the upcoming fiscal year. Authors may also continue to deposit the final author version of their articles in eScholarship, the University of California’s open-access repository. 

Since its launch, the UCSB OA Publishing Fund has supported the publication of 267 open-access articles, advancing the reach and impact of UCSB research around the world. We extend our sincere thanks to the many authors who embraced this opportunity to make their scholarship openly accessible.

If you have any questions, need assistance or would like to provide feedback, please contact us at library-openaccess@ucsb.edu.  

Sincerely,

Lidia Uziel, Associate University Librarian for Research Resources and Scholarly Communication 

Chizu Morihara, Director, Collection Strategies Department