The UMass Amherst SOAR (Supporting Open Access Research) Fund was established by the Libraries in 2014 to support open access publication by faculty, staff and students when funds are not otherwise available. The fund is supported by the University Libraries, which initially contributed $25,000 for FY 2014-2015 and have subsequently contributed $10,000 each fiscal year. The maximum individual award amount is $1,200 or the total amount of the fee to publish, whichever is less.
The goals of the UMA SOAR Fund are to:
The SOAR Fund is compatible with the Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity (COPE).
Applications will be considered:
Eligible publications and publishing platforms must be fully and immediately open access. Publications in “hybrid open-access” (which also charge subscription fees) or “delayed open-access” journals and monographs are NOT eligible.
Based on the UMass Amherst Open Access Policy, all publications awarded SOAR funds will be deposited in the institutional repository, ScholarWorks.
A corresponding/primary author is limited to one award per fiscal year. A manuscript may only receive one award.
Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis between July - May until funds are expended. Funding is on a first come, first serve basis. Applicants will be notified of an award decision within a month of their request for funding.
There will be two reimbursement deadlines per fiscal year - December and May. If authors do not submit their paid invoices by the applicable deadline provided in their approval notification, their award will be re-allocated back into the fund.
UMA SOAR cannot guarantee funding in advance, and authors should only count on funding after their application is approved and they have received notice of the award amount from the UMA Libraries. Award funds will be transferred to the author's department account upon receipt of a paid invoice to reimburse the author for publication charges.
The UMA SOAR Fund is administered by the Scholarly Communication Department at the UMA Libraries. Applications are reviewed and awards granted by the Scholarly Communication Librarian based on the criteria set forth below. Awards and lists of publications will be accumulated annually and posted. Funding for future years will be dependent on number of applications, available funds, and evaluation of the program. We encourage your feedback about the program; please send it to cturner@umass.edu.
All applications must meet the following criteria in order to be eligible for 50% of the maximum award of $1200.
Applicants will earn additional percentages towards the maximum award by meeting any of the criteria below:
The FY'22 SOAR Fund has been closed. When funds become available again, the application form will be available here.