Publishing deal between UTSA, Cambridge University Press benefits research authors

APRIL 22, 2021 — UTSA researchers looking to publish open access scholarly articles may find it easier to do so thanks to a transformative agreement between UTSA Libraries and Cambridge University Press.

The read-and-publish deal allows authors to publish work in Cambridge University Press journals as open access without paying article processing charges—or APCs. Typically, authors are charged amounts that can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars per article.

Publishing open access means that UTSA-produced scholarship will be more publicly available to the research community worldwide.

UTSA Libraries has joined academic libraries within the University of Texas System in securing the transformative agreement.

“It pushes the needle forward in stimulating even more discovery and innovation among our research community.”

“We’re proud to join UT System libraries in offering this read-and-publish opportunity to all those in our research community” said Dean Hendrix, dean of UTSA Libraries. “Publishing articles with open access creates a healthier research ecosystem because more individuals can access work produced by UTSA authors. Part of our mission at the libraries is to be at the forefront of providing open resources, and we hope this deal will help sustain that effort.”

While the peer review process will still determine whether work gets into Cambridge University Press journals, the agreement will lower the barrier for others to access work within them. Additionally, researchers will retain copyright to the work they author.

“Maintaining their own copyright means researchers can share it freely once it’s published,” said Emily Johnson, scholarly communication librarian. “Because the work is not locked behind a paywall and it’s easily discoverable online, the research may be used more frequently and may lead to more citations and more people seeing UTSA scholarly work.”

Posie Aagaard, assistant dean for collections and curriculum support at UTSA Libraries, says she hopes removing this barrier will encourage authors to take advantage of open-access publishing and avoid high out-of-pocket costs.

“Often times faculty and other researchers take on the costs individually,” she said. “With this agreement, so many more researchers can submit work to top-tier journals without worries of the high cost of APCs.”

As part of the deal, UTSA Libraries will retain access to just over 500 journals published by Cambridge University Press, most of them focusing on the humanities and social sciences. The deal went into effect system-wide in January 2021 and extends through December 2023.

UTSA librarians will manage the administration of the agreement and will provide guidance and support for researchers who wish to publish.

“It’s a group effort, and we all benefit when knowledge is available worldwide,” Hendrix said. “The individual researcher benefits, the libraries benefit and UTSA benefits. It pushes the needle forward in stimulating even more discovery and innovation among our research community.”

The UTSA Libraries are at the forefront of reimagining the 21st-century academic library. With four locations across three campuses, the libraries are fueling UTSA’s ascent to a premier public research university by providing students and faculty with seamless, comprehensive access to information and learning resources as well as innovative spaces for active learning and interdisciplinary scholarship.

— Joaquin Herrera