A boost for open access to research - The Research Council of Norway

"The Research Council of Norway is introducing a new, five-year funding scheme that will cover a significant share of the costs incurred by research institutions for publication in open access journals ... The Research Council has calculated that the institutions currently pay about NOK 16 million annually in fees for publishing in open access journals. Roughly half of the published articles are based on research funded by the Research Council.  The Research Council is now setting aside NOK 8 million per year for the new scheme, which is open to all Norwegian research institutions and is not limited to articles funded by the Research Council. The scheme’s financial framework may be expanded if this is warranted by the volume of publications ... The research institutions may apply for funding to cover up to 50 per cent of their expenses related to publishing in open access journals. The costs will be covered in arrears. The funding announcement that applies to costs incurred in 2014 will therefore be issued in April 2015. The individual institution must seek funding on behalf of its researchers.   The most important requirement to receive funding is that the journals in which the articles are published must be open access journals at levels 1 or 2 in the registry of publication channels from the Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions. In addition, universities and university colleges are required to have established their own publication funds.  More information about the scheme will be available in the funding announcement to be issued in spring 2015 ..."