The Price of Open: Understanding Article Processing Charges and NSU's Cost-Saving Agreements

Presenter(s)

• Keri Baker, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

Document Type

Talk

Presentation Date

10-21-2026

Conference Name / Publication Title

ACCESS Initiative Workshop Series

Description

Open access publishing can raise your work's visibility and impact — but it often comes with a price tag in the form of Article Processing Charges (APCs) that can run into the thousands of dollars. This session, designed for NSU faculty, unpacks the true cost of “open” and shows you how to avoid paying it. We'll cover the Scholarly Communications services available through the Alvin Sherman Library, walk through the major open access models (Gold, Green, Diamond, Hybrid) and how their costs differ, and — most importantly — detail the transformative “Read and Publish” agreements NSU currently holds with publishers like Cambridge Core, IGI Global, and IOP Publishing, which can eliminate APCs for eligible NSU authors. We'll also cover how to discover free or lower-cost publishing options for journals outside those agreements.  Come away with a clear picture of what open access will actually cost you — and how NSU can help cover it.

Comments

Learning Objectives By the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

1. Identify the Scholarly Communications services available to them through the Alvin Sherman Library.
2. Distinguish between the major open access models (Gold, Green, Diamond, Hybrid) and their associated costs.
3. Explain what an Article Processing Charge (APC) is and why it can vary depending on publisher and journal.
4. Determine whether a target journal qualifies for one of NSU's current transformative agreements and how to access that coverage.
5. Locate library resources and support for planning a cost-effective publishing strategy going forward.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

NSUWorks Citation

Baker, Keri, "The Price of Open: Understanding Article Processing Charges and NSU's Cost-Saving Agreements" (2026). Staff Presentations, Proceedings, Lectures, and Symposia. 46.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/asl_staffpres/46