Open Access
- Sheridan Libraries
- Guides
- Open Access
- Open Access Support at JHU
Open Tools from the JH Libraries
The Hopkins Libraries include and maintain open resources in the tools we provide for your use.
- The use of the Directory of Open Access Journals and Unpaywall in our FindIt link resolver
- The inclusion of open resources in Catalyst, our library catalog
- Support of our institutional repository, JScholarship
- Creation of the Public Access Submission System (PASS)
- Open Science Framework, a platform to share data and research
- Open Journal Systems, Open Conference Systems, and Omeka
- JHU Data Archive
Scholarly Communications Group
The JHU Scholarly Communications Group (SCG) is comprised of librarians from Welch Medical Library, Sheridan Libraries, Mason Library, and Friedheim Library. You can email us with comments and questions.
JH Libraries Open Access Promotion Fund (OAPF) is closed
For three years the Sheridan Libraries and the Welch Medical Library supported a pilot Open Access Promotion Fund. The fund reimbursed authors for the article processing charges they paid to gold Open Access journals. The pilot was very successful in that we learned that many JHU authors want to publish in Open Access journals. We anticipate that this desire will grow for three reasons: 1) more funders are requiring open availability of articles; 2) more researchers are eager to publish in outlets that don’t keep their work behind paywalls; and 3) more OA journals are growing in impact and reputation.
The interest in open access now outstrips the funds the Libraries can provide, so we have to close the OAPF. Authors needing assistance with article processing charges should ask the publisher about waiver and discount programs. Primary Investigators are encouraged to include reasonable estimates for article processing charges in their grant applications. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) lists reputable Open Access journals, not all of which require large article processing charges.
For assistance with general Open Access questions, please contact your librarian or informationist. Questions about the OAPF in particular can be directed to Robin Sinn, rsinn@jhu.edu.
TOME Monograph Subvention Grants
JHU TOME Monograph Subvention Grants provide funding to Johns Hopkins faculty for the publication of new open-access digital monographs.
Johns Hopkins University joined the Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME) initiative in 2020 to facilitate greater access to its faculty’s scholarship through open-access publishing. Five monograph subvention grants will be awarded by the Johns Hopkins Libraries over two academic years, 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, with funding from the Office of the Provost. The grants will provide up to $15,000 per academic monograph—paid to a participating university press on the author’s behalf—to make a digital copy of the monograph available free of charge under a Creative Commons license through MuseOpen.
Details and application form are available at https://www.library.jhu.edu/library-services/scholarly-communication/tome-grant/. We encourage faculty to email tome@jhu.edu with questions.
Johns Hopkins Libraries Cover APCs for PLOS Medicine and PLOS Biology
Johns Hopkins Libraries have joined the PLOS Community Action Publishing program. Our participation in this program ensures that articles accepted by PLOS Medicine and PLOS Biology with corresponding authors from Johns Hopkins, will not be charged an APCs. This program also extends discounts to your corresponding authors for papers where you are a co-author. See the FAQ for more details.
Please contact Robin Sinn, rsinn@jhu.edu, with questions.
APC Discounts with Open Access Publishers
Below are several journals that offer some type of discount to JHU authors. Please check publisher's website for the most recent details.
MDPI - The MDPI Institutional Open Access Program gives JHU authors a 10% discount on APCs.
SpringerOpen - Johns Hopkins University researchers and students receive a 15% discount on article processing charges in journals that are part of:
Nucleic Acids Research - Author charges are $1385 per article, a 50% discount.
PLOS Biology and PLOS Medicine - The Johns Hopkins Libraries participation in PLOS' Community Action Publishing program means JHU corresponding authors will not be charged an APC
PNAS - As of 1/2021, the discounted OA fee JHU authors should pay to make their PNAS article immediately Open Access is $2000, per their Instruction for Authors, page xix. Please remember that all PNAS articles become freely available 6 months after publication.
JH Libraries Support Open Content
The Hopkins Libraries financially support open content and platforms that provide open content. Below are some of those initiatives. Often that support is through a membership. Subscribe to Open is a business model several journals are using; if enough libraries agree to continue paying subscriptions, the journal will make the content openly available.
JH Libraries Support Open Access
As a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Johns Hopkins Libraries are a signatory by proxy to the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.
Johns Hopkins Scholarly Communications Group's response to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Request for Information: Public Access to Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Publications Resulting From Federally Funded Research.
Johns Hopkins' response to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Request for Information: Public Access to Digital Data Resulting From Federally Funded Scientific Research.