The purpose of this policy is to establish clear guidelines regarding the responsibility for publication charges incurred by faculty members when publishing their research in academic journals, conferences, or other scholarly outlets.
Publication charges are expenses incurred by faculty members when submitting research for publication. These charges may include, but are not limited to, fees for article processing (APC), open-access publication, conference registration, printing posters, attending conferences, or other related costs. These charges are the responsibility of faculty.
The publishing industry continues to evolve, as do university and federal government policies concerning open access to research outputs. Faculty are expected to stay abreast of these changes, maintaining awareness of trends that might affect the impact of the publication, compliance with regulations, and costs incurred.
In response to increasing publication charges, Penn State libraries has established agreements journals. Faculty might also consider publishing at conferences that offer online participation at nominal costs. Faculty members’ responsibility for covering costs of publication include any fees required for processing, publication, or open access of their scholarly work. All faculty members are expected to cover these charges using their allotment/discretionary funds or other internal/external funding sources. Faculty are strongly encouraged, when possible, to include publication charges in grant budgets. In addition, pre-tenure junior faculty members are expected to use their start-up funds to pay for all publication charges.
The College currently offers very limited support for defraying publication charges under exceptional circumstances (e.g., publications in high-impact journals that could significantly enhance the College’s external reputation). However, the College does support graduate students’ professional growth by funding their travel to major conferences and events to present their research findings.
Approved by Dean Tapia 9/6/2024