The University of Michigan Library Copyright Office provides help with copyright questions for University of Michigan faculty, staff and students. Please email us with questions or visit our website for more information.
The information presented here is intended for informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice. If you have specific legal questions pertaining to the University of Michigan, please contact the Office of the General Counsel.
If you require legal advice in your personal capacity, the lawyer referral services operated by the Washtenaw County Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan may be helpful to you.
Some commercial publishers charge authors fees known as APCs (article publishing charges) to publish open access. The library has contracts with certain publishers that make it possible for U-M-affiliated authors to obtain discounts on APCs. See the list below for publishers for discounts for which you may be eligible. Each publisher has specific requirements in order to obtain the U-M negotiated discount. Please look at the information (linked) for publishers of interest to you for specific information. Email the U-M Library if you have questions about these discounts at lib-oa-pub@umich.edu.
Take publication costs into account when applying for funding and write publication costs into your grant. If you are seeking to publish work that was previously funded, check with your funding agency to see if you can use funds to cover publication costs.
Most faculty have funds available to cover travel, materials, equipment, publication costs, and other expenses associated with their work. Your academic unit might recommend (and in some cases require) that you expend these funds first before seeking additional funding at the level of your department or school/college.
Departments and schools/colleges offer research incentive funds. While policies vary by unit, publication costs are generally accepted as an expense that can be covered using these funds. Some units also have unique opportunities for funding. For example, in LSA, an application for the Associate Professor Support Fund could include publication charges as part of the budget. Consult your chair or associate dean(s) to learn more.
For U-M faculty interested in making their book open access, a special fund connected to the TOME initiative is open to all departments and colleges. Grants of around $15,000 each are awarded for book publishing charges. Further information can be found on the Library's website