Skip to Main Content
UVM Libraries Research Guides banner

Open Access Publishing Support

Information about resources, agreements, and supports for Open Access (OA) publishing provided by UVM Libraries

Association for Computing Machinery OA Publishing Support FAQ

What support does UVM offer?

The UVM Library is participating in a Read & Publish Agreement with the publisher the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) that fully covers the Author Processing Charge (APC) for accepted articles in their journal and proceedings series on the ACM Digital Library.

What is a Read & Publish Agreement?

A Read & Publish Agreement is a contract between a publisher and library that includes both standard subscriptions to journals and coverage of Author Processing Charges (APCs) for affiliated authors.  

UVM's agreement with the ACM gives us full text access to all of their journals, as well as covering APCs for our affiliated authors. 

Which titles are included in this agreement?

This agreement covers all of the ACM's journals, which are currently largely hybrid or fully OA journals. The ACM intends for all of its journals to be 100% OA by 2026, and for all subscribers to participate in this type of agreement.

Hybrid journal articles are by default published without Open Access (OA), but that authors may pay an Author Processing Charge to make them OA. Fully OA journals are always published OA. UVM and UVM Medical Center affiliates can publish OA in either type of journal without paying a fee.

Find their journals here: ACM Journals

What types of articles are eligible?

These types of articles are eligible for coverage of APCs. Individual ACM journals may call them by another name, but they will all be eligible.

  • Research Article
  • Short Paper
  • Review Article
  • Survey Article
  • Technical Note
  • Tutorial
  • Interview
  • Note

These types of articles are NOT eligible for coverage of APCs.  

  • Abstracts
  • Editorials
  • Invited Talks
  • Opinions

What about ACM's ICPS?

The ACM publishes many important series of conference proceedings as part of the International Conference Proceeding Series (ICPS). They ARE included in this agreement, and the ACM intends to make this series fully OA by 2026.

Does this mean my article will be accepted?

No. The process of submitting an article for publication is identical until after it has been reviewed and accepted.

Who is an affiliate?

  • University of Vermont
    • Faculty
    • Staff
    • Students
  • University of Vermont Medical Center
    • All Employees

Is UVMMC included?

Yes.

Can someone who is not an affiliate get covered by UVM?

No. Affiliation will be checked before an APC credit is approved. 

One author on a covered article must be a UVM affiliate; however, other authors of the same article may have different affiliations. 

Do I have to be first author?

No. You do not have to be first author. 

You DO have to be an author - other types of contribution are not sufficient. 

How many APCs are covered each year?

All articles authored by UVM affiliates.

Is there any dollar limit on APC amount?

No. All APCs are covered in full, whether $500 or $10,000.

What do I have to do?

You must submit your article using your UVM or UVM Medical Center email address, and/or list your institutional affiliation as one of these two entities. 

Your affiliation must be current on the date your article is accepted.

After your article has been accepted, the ACM will publish your article Open Access (OA) by default.

  • If you do NOT want it to be OA, you can check a box to Opt Out.

You must accept one of the available Creative Commons Licenses for your article. 

What happens to my copyright under a Creative Commons License?

Authors retain their copyright, but allow others to access or use their work without consultation or fees under one of several standard Creative Commons licenses. Works licensed under a Creative Commons License must still be cited when used. 

"A creative commons license is a license issued by the copyright owner to allow anyone in the world to use his or her copyright work in any manner consistent with that license. Creative Commons licenses are essentially standard form license agreements which can be attached to a work to enable its use under certain circumstances without the need to contact the author or negotiate terms of use."

Copyright Alliance, 2022

What if I don't want my article to be OA?

If you do not want your article to be published OA, you do not have to if it is published in a hybrid journal. You can check a box to Opt Out.  If the journal is fully OA, it will be OA. The only way to avoid this is to choose another journal.

What about other publishers?

UVM is beginning to add more agreements like this one. Find out more about them on the Library's Open Access Publishing Support Guide.