Ball State University Libraries, the library system of Ball State University, has entered into an open access publishing agreement with Cambridge University Press, the academic publisher of the University of Cambridge. The arrangement expands options for Ball State–affiliated researchers to publish open access without paying individual article processing charges.
Under the agreement, Ball State faculty, staff, and graduate students who are corresponding authors on manuscripts accepted by Cambridge University Press journals can publish open access with APCs covered through the institutional contract. The coverage extends to more than 437 peer-reviewed journals. The Libraries state that the partnership advances priorities to increase research visibility and remove financial barriers for authors, aligning with its mission to support access, collaboration, and innovation in scholarly communication.
The model combines continued institutional access to Cambridge’s journal portfolio with the ability for eligible authors to publish openly, aiming to reduce costs and broaden reach. Ball State students, faculty, and staff will retain full access to Cambridge journals under the agreement’s terms.
University Libraries lists several priorities supported by the partnership: promoting open access by enabling public availability of publicly funded research; lowering publishing costs by covering APCs via the contract; and enhancing research impact by increasing visibility, citation potential, and audience reach. No separate application or payment is required from authors, with eligibility confirmed during the publication workflow.
The agreement is presented as part of a broader University Libraries strategy to support sustainable publishing models and expand the public impact of Ball State research, with an indication of potential future agreements with additional academic publishers. For further information, readers are directed to the University Libraries blog or to contact Emma Giles, scholarly communication and affordable learning librarian, at emma.giles@bsu.edu.
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