What alternatives are available to obtain funding for publishing Open Access?

The University Library interviewed librarian Tord Heljeberg, who works with the allocation of OA funds for publishing in journals and books. We wanted to know more about Open Access (OA) at MDU.

What does OA publishing look like at MDU today?

Today, a large proportion of publications at MDU are published in Open Access. Around 75% of publications that have an MDU affiliation during recent years are freely available for anyone to read. The development here has progressed very quickly. Less than ten years ago, only a fraction of research publications were freely accessible. Then, the only way for the general public to read a scientific article was often to make a personal visit to an higher education institute’s library that had a subscription to the journal.

The Library's support for OA publishing has been on the rise since the start. During 2023, we provided support for around 50 articles and book chapters. Support that was indirectly provided to publications through the national agreements was also significantly greater.

What is really important to consider when it comes to publishing OA?

An essential and common task at the Library is to answer researchers' questions about publishing in specific scholarly journals. Recurring questions are whether the journals are covered by a national agreement and whether the journal overall maintains a high quality for publication. The quality issue is something we view as extra important to help clarify.

Internationally there are many insincere and almost criminal publishers, and as a researcher it is necessary to avoid these. We strongly encourage all researchers at MDU to contact us at the Library if they feel anyway uncertain of their own quality assessment.

Do you want to know more?

Read more about funding for OA publications

Application for funding for OA publication of a book chapter

Application for funding for OA publication of a journal article