Open Access

HKU Libraries Open Access Author Fund (the Fund) provides funding to HKU authors (including current academic and research staff and postgraduate students) to make their publications freely accessible by the public immediately upon publication (immediate open access).

Open access (OA) means making research publications freely available so anyone can benefit from reading and using research. It is part of a wider "open" movement to encourage free exchange of knowledge and resources in order to widen access and encourage creativity.

For more details on OA, please refer to this guide: https://libguides.lib.hku.hk/openaccess

Goals

• Support HKU authors to defray open access publishing charges when other funding is not available.
• Encourage HKU authors to participate in publishing open access and enjoy the potential benefits including more readers, more potential collaborators, and more citations for the works.
• Facilitate knowledge exchange with our community to realize greater benefits economically, socially, and intellectually.

To apply for the Fund, read through the guide and fill out the application form.

  List of publications supported: 2022-23, 2023-24

A quick glance at the Fund:

View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ULB38CE4pZE

Who can apply

• A current HKU academic or research staff member or postgraduate student who 1.) is the corresponding author of an open access journal article and 2.) does not have sufficient fundings to support open access charges is eligible to apply.
• Each applicant can be reimbursed by the Fund in each financial year ^#1 once only.
• Each research group can be reimbursed by the Fund in each financial year once only.
• In the published article, the affiliation (or one of the affiliations) of the corresponding author must be the University of Hong Kong.
• Applicants must provide an ORCID iD during the application process. For more information on ORCID, please refer to this guide: https://libguides.lib.hku.hk/orcidhkul
   

Publication eligibility

• A peer-reviewed article published in a fully/hybrid open access journal and freely accessible immediately on publication, i.e. freely available at the time of initial publication with no embargo periods, is eligible.
• Each application can include one article only.
• Each article can be funded by the Fund once only.
• The journal's quality ^#2 and open access credentials will be assessed with various tools including:
  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
  • Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association
  • Journal Citation Reports
  • Other academic sources about predatory publishing
• The journal must have a publicly available article publishing fee schedule.
• Journals listed in DOAJ are strongly preferred. If the journal is from a high-quality publisher but too new to be included in DOAJ, it will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Journals that license articles under Creative Commons or similar licensing terms are strongly preferred.
   

Amounts covered

• The Fund will reimburse authors for actual expenses up to US$2000 per article for open access article processing charges (APCs).
• The Fund only covers APCs. Other publication fees, including but not limited to overlength fees, colour charges, electronic supplement charges, are not covered by the Fund.
• The Libraries has made various agreements with various publishers to provide APC waivers and discounts. The Fund does not cover APCs for publishing with publishers with which the HKU Libraries has entered into a transformative agreement. For more details, please refer to this page: https://libguides.lib.hku.hk/openaccess/ta (continuously updated).
• Applications are accepted until funding of the Fund depletes.

Date

• An application is accepted only for an article accepted or published within the current financial year.
• Applications are processed on a first-come-first-served basis.
• Successful applicants must complete and submit the Reimbursement Form within 3 months from the date of approval of the Fund.
   

Attribution

• If possible, we ask the Fund recipients to include the following statement in acknowledgements:
  "Publication made possible in part by support from the HKU Libraries Open Access Author Fund sponsored by the HKU Libraries."
• We also encourage the recipients to submit the publication details to HKU Research Information Management System (RIMS) after publication.

The Libraries reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions at our discretion without prior notice by posting the changes online. For any dispute arising from the Fund, the decision of the Libraries shall be final and conclusive.

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#1

The University's current financial year will end on 30 June 2024. For details, please refer to announcement of Finance & Enterprises Office:

https://intraweb.hku.hk/reserved_2/finance/bulk_email/End_of_Financial_Year_2023-24.pdf (HKU Portal log-in required)

#2

Applications for articles published in these journals are suspended for consideration until further notice according to the decision by the Senate Library Committee:

https://lib.hku.hk/check_form/list-of-journals/ (HKU Portal log-in required; Eligible applicants only)

Step 1: Submit manuscript to publisher & get accepted

Once manuscript is accepted, keep a proof of acceptance.

Step 2: Apply for the Fund

Once your manuscript is accepted, you can apply for the Fund.

Complete and submit the Application Form (HKU Portal log-in required) alongside the proof of acceptance of manuscript.

The Libraries will take up to 10 working days to process your application and notify you of the result.

Step 3: Pay APCs

Pay the article processing charges (APCs) by yourself first.

• Out of pocket: Some authors will pay APCs using personal funds, such as personal credit cards, personal cheques, etc.
• Departmental funds: Some authors may use the departmental account to pay APCs.

Keep the proof of payment, such as 1) the invoice or receipt from publisher OR 2) a document which includes the name of payee, amount of charge, transaction date, and form of payment, for the reimbursement process.
 

Step 4: Apply for Reimbursement

Only the successful applicants will receive details on the reimbursement procedure.

Proceed to reimbursement within 3 months from the date of approval of the Fund according to the e-mail reply.