Duke University has joined a group of leading research institutions in signing a Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity (COPE). The goal of the compact is to make it easier for researchers to publish their work in open-access scholarly journals, where it would be freely available online.
As part of its commitment to COPE, Duke has created a special fund to help pay for article processing fees associated with open-access publishing. COPE aims to encourage open access by supporting Duke authors who find such fees an obstacle to publication. The fund, which will be administered by the Libraries’ Office of Scholarly Communications, is supported by the Duke University Libraries and the Office of the Provost.
According to Provost Peter Lange, the aims of COPE are in keeping with Duke’s continued emphasis on knowledge in the service of society. “By establishing this fund, we hope to support the university’s commitment to promoting openness as an important value in scholarship,” Lange said. “Increased open access means more opportunities for the research of our faculty and researchers to reach a wide audience and have a meaningful impact on the world.”