| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 70.78 |
| Liaison | Amber Saxton |
| Submission Date | Sept. 1, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
George Mason University
AC-11: Open Access to Research
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Mary
Liang Sustainability Analyst Sustainability |
How many of the institution’s research-producing divisions are covered by a published open access policy that ensures that versions of future scholarly articles by faculty and staff are deposited in a designated open access repository? (All, Some or None):
Which of the following best describes the open access policy? (Mandatory or Voluntary):
Does the institution provide financial incentives to support faculty members with article processing and other open access publication charges?:
A brief description of the open access policy, including the date adopted, any incentives or supports provided, and the repository(ies) used:
George Mason University has always had a voluntary open-access policy, which covers research conducted by faculty, graduate students, and PhD fellows. Additionally, in 2012 the university established the Open Access Publishing Fund, which is a $25,000 annual fund that offers financial support to eligible members of the Mason community to off-set the costs of publishing in scholarly open access (OA) journals. The Open Access Publishing Fund at Mason supports broad goals to encourage access of research coming from the university. All open access research is deposited in Mason’s digital repository, along with access to thesis and dissertations from the Mason community.
The University Libraries offers financial support to eligible members of the Mason community to offset the costs of publishing in scholarly open access (OA) journals that charge author fees. Complete and submit the Open Access Publishing Fund (OAP Fund) application on the University Libraries’ website to apply for funds. Most OA publications do not require payment because the host institution or a society absorbs the burden of cost. However, one OA business model currently practiced transfers the costs of publication from the end-user or an intermediary (i.e., the subscription model) to the producer (i.e., author). In this model, access to online articles is free of pay barriers, hence its label as “open access” content. Users may print-out or electronically share these articles without payment to or permission from the copyright holder.
To that end, the Open Access Publishing Fund at Mason supports four broad goals:
1. To encourage publication in scholarly open access journals.
2. To reduce financial barriers to scholarly research,
3. To disseminate scholarship produced at George Mason University as widely and immediately as possible, and
4. To foster research and artistic collaboration among and between scholars at Mason and throughout the world.
For fund details and guidelines go to: http://publishing.gmu.edu/communication/open-access-publishing-fund/#details
A copy of the institution's open access policy:
The institution's open access policy:
The website URL where the open access repository is available:
Estimated percentage of scholarly articles published annually by the institution’s faculty and staff that are deposited in a designated open access repository (0-100):
A brief description of how the institution’s library(ies) support open access to research:
The libraries provide support for open access (OA) to research by offering two institutional repositories (MARS and Dataverse), guidance and technical support for OA publishing through the Scholarly Communication librarian, Mason Publishing and Data Services, funding to help offset processing fees charged by some OA journals through the Open Access Publishing fund (http://scholarly.gmu.edu/?page_id=549), promotion of OA during Open Access Week and throughout the year, and support for OA to research data and data management plans required by funding agencies and organizations, and finally the electronic dissertations and theses service.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data is from FY16.
Data is from FY16.
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.