Duke University has joined a group of leading research institutions in signing a Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity (COPE). The compact seeks to make it easier for researchers to publish their work in open-access scholarly journals, where it would be freely available online.
As part of its commitment to COPE, Duke has created a special fund to help pay for article processing fees. Beginning this month, any Duke faculty member, post-doctoral researcher, graduate or professional student, whose article is accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, can apply to have associated article processing fees reimbursed. The fund, which will be administered by the Libraries' Office of Scholarly Communications, is supported by the Duke University Libraries and the Office of the Provost.
Open-access journals make published research available for free to anyone who has access to the Internet. Some open-access journals charge authors an article-processing fee for reviewing, editing, producing and distributing their work. COPE aims to encourage open access by supporting Duke authors who find the fees an obstacle to publication.
According to Provost Peter Lange, this is the latest in a series of efforts Duke has made to support open access as an institutional priority. In March, the university's Academic Council adopted an open access policy that applies to all Duke faculty.
Duke is one of 11 institutions so far to join the COPE initiative. Others include Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California at Berkeley, University of Ottawa, Columbia University, the University of Michigan, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Universitat de Barcelona.
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