Open access book fund (funding cycle 2025-2027)

• Each participating faculty has its own budget.
  Explanation: Once the faculty has exhausted its budget, applications will be closed for that faculty.
  
• Maximum reimbursement: € 5,000 (incl. VAT) per book.
  Explanation: By lowering the maximum reimbursement from €8,000 to €5,000, we aim to support more book projects. At the same time, we aim to steer authors towards book publishers that charge reasonable fees. > Read more about different business models for open access books.
  
• Delayed open access is not eligible.
  Explanation: We consider this model as not transparent and we fear it leads to double dipping on the part of publishers as they get to sell the book for the first few months/years (arguably when most of the sales happen) and then charge libraries to open up the book after the initial period.
  
• Limit of one application per author per funding cycle (2025-2027).
  Explanation: We introduce this limitation to be able to support as many authors as possible with the fund.
  
• Applicants that have a research grant from an external funder (NWO, EU funding, etc.) are not eligible.
  Explanation: Grantees should budget for open access costs in their grant applications and/or make use of the available funder schemes (e.g. NWO’s OA Book Fund).
  
• Publishers are required to submit a cost breakdown to justify the BPC price.
  Explanation: This requirement is meant to encourage more transparency from publishers on how they determine BPC levels.
  
• Books have to be published within one year from the book fund application.
  Explanation: We introduce this requirement as we want to avoid having to keep money reserved for years. Authors should apply when the book project is in an advanced stage.

All faculties, excluding the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

The maximum reimbursement is €5,000 (incl. VAT) per book . The amount reimbursed for edited volumes is proportional to the number of UG editors involved. For example, if there are four co-editors, of which one is from the UG, we will fund 25% of the Book Processing Charge (BPC) up to a max. of €5,000.

Monographs and edited volumes. Book chapters are not eligible. Books that have already been published are also not eligible (i.e. fees for flipping closed access books to open access retrospectively).

There is a limit of one application per author per funding cycle (3 years, 2025-2027). Author(s) and/or editor(s) have to be affiliated with one of the participating faculties.

As of this funding cycle each participating faculty has its own separate budget. Once the faculty budget is exhausted, applications will be closed for that faculty.

Authors having a substantial research grant that includes budgeting for publication costs (e.g. NWO or EU grants) are not eligible for the fund. Grantees should budget for open access costs in their grant applications and/or make use of the available funder schemes (e.g. NWO’s OA Book Fund).

Publishers are required to provide a cost breakdown to justify the BPC they are charging. This requirement is meant to encourage more transparency from publishers on how they determine BPC levels. Publishers can take inspiration from the Open Book Publishers and from the University of Groningen Press on how to structure their cost breakdown. The committee reserves the right to consult faculties and institute directors about publisher eligibility based on the cost breakdown.

Publishers should meet the basic requirements set by the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB). In addition to meeting the DOAB criteria, publishers are required to assign a DOI to the publication and deposit it in the OAPEN-Library to enhance its discoverability. The University Library will check whether these criteria are met. If the requirements cannot be fully met, authors are invited to still contact the University Library to discuss the publisher's eligibility.

Books must be published under a Creative Commons license. The authors shall retain copyright to the publication.

Applications can be submitted once the book has been accepted for publication and once a price quotation for the BPC has been provided by the publisher (please see above the publisher requirements). NB : Only books that are scheduled to be published within 1 year from the application date will be considered eligible.

To request funding, please complete the OA Book Fund application form. We strongly recommend reading the form carefully and securing the necessary information from your publisher before submitting the application. Applications will be assessed against the eligibility criteria described above and will be evaluated on a monthly basis by a committee composed of open access and publishing experts from the University Library. The committee reserves the right to consult faculties and institute directors in case of doubt about the eligibility of a request.

The University Library team is here to help and advise you with regard to book contract negotiations. If you have any questions and require assistance, please contact us at openaccess rug.nl