UMass Libraries Accepting Applications for Supporting Open Access Research 2025 Fund

The UMass Amherst Libraries are now accepting applications for the Supporting Open Access Research (SOAR) Fund awards. Applications are due by Oct. 25 for the first round of funding and April 11, 2025, for the second.<_o3a_p>

This year, Nandita Mani, Dean of Libraries, increased the fund to $30,000 based on historical use and current trends in scholarly publishing. In the coming year as a pilot project, $5,000 of the total fund will be dedicated to author publishing charges for Open Access (OA) monographs in recognition of the distinct editorial workflows and higher costs of open access monograph publication.<_o3a_p>

The SOAR Fund was established by the UMass Amherst Libraries in 2014 to support open access publication of journal articles, books and book chapters in the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Faculty, staff and students who are the corresponding author of an open access publication listed above are invited to apply for funding to cover their publisher's author processing charge (APC).<_o3a_p>

As part of the libraries' commitment to open scholarship, over the 2024 academic year, 19 awards were granted to university authors representing 14 departments. A bibliography with links to SOAR-funded publications since the fund's inception is provided in on the libraries' website.<_o3a_p>

Full details on eligibility requirements, award determination criteria and the application form, can be found online in the SOAR Fund guide.