Joint initiative will provide journal-level guidance, identify publishing agreements and support compliance throughout the publication lifecycle
By Matt Golosinski
Northwestern has begun launching new resources this month to help principal investigators and research staff navigate changing federal public access requirements, evaluate journal policies and identify publishing agreements that may reduce or eliminate open-access fees.
Developed jointly by the Office for Research, Northwestern University Libraries, and Galter Health Sciences Library, the resources are intended to provide clearer, more coordinated support throughout the publication lifecycle—from selecting a journal and budgeting for publication costs to depositing manuscripts and monitoring compliance.
The initiative responds to rapidly changing federal requirements. NIH-supported manuscripts accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025, must be submitted to PubMed Central and made publicly available without an embargo on the official publication date. NSF has likewise removed its 12-month embargo and now requires that accepted manuscripts be deposited in the NSF Public Access Repository at or before publication. Other federal funding agencies have similarly updated their public access policies to require manuscripts funded by their awards to be deposited in designated repositories at the time of publication.
Navigating these requirements alongside varying publisher policies can be complex. Researchers may need to determine whether a journal permits immediate deposit in a repository, whether an open-access publishing fee applies, and whether Northwestern has an agreement that reduces or eliminates that fee. Importantly, federal public access compliance does not necessarily require paying an open-access fee.
The first resource is the Northwestern Journals with Article Processing Charge (APC) Agreements discovery tool, which lets researchers search by journal title or subject area to determine whether a publication is covered by an agreement negotiated by Northwestern Libraries or the Big Ten Academic Alliance. The initial database includes more than 6,100 journal and conference titles from 12 publishers, along with information on available article-processing-charge waivers or discounts, campus eligibility, and agreement periods. The cross-institutional working group developing these resources is co-chaired by Dieyun Song, Research Data Management Librarian at Northwestern University Library, and Pamela Shaw, Research Policy Librarian at Galter Health Sciences Library.
Additional tools are in development. A central public-access resource page with current guidance, educational materials, and links to sponsor-specific requirements is being developed and will go live in October. A Journal Policy Finder will let users search by journal title or ISSN for publisher policies on open-access options, manuscript sharing, embargoes, and fees, even when Northwestern does not have an agreement with the publisher. Researchers who have not yet selected a journal will also be able to explore options by discipline and by agreement availability.
In the longer term, the working group will develop decision support across the publication lifecycle, including budgeting for publication costs in proposals, selecting appropriate journals, depositing manuscripts, and monitoring compliance. The group will also clarify institutional roles, identify opportunities to streamline workflows, and create job aids for investigators and the staff members who support them.
Researchers can prepare now by retaining the author-accepted manuscript (the final peer-reviewed version before publisher formatting) for each federally supported publication. They should also review sponsor and publisher requirements before signing a publishing agreement or paying an article-processing charge. Eligibility for Northwestern publishing agreements may depend on factors such as the corresponding author’s affiliation and the selected journal.
More information and links will be shared when additional resources launch. In the meantime, direct any questions about the discovery tool to openaccess@northwestern.edu.
Because requirements vary by sponsor, award and publication date, researchers and administrators should continue to consult the applicable award terms and current sponsor guidance, including the NIH Public Access Policy and NSF public access requirements. Northwestern’s tools are intended to support these decisions and do not supersede sponsor requirements or award terms.