Articles in journals: The SNSF will continue to cover article processing charges (APCs) in the case of direct publication in OA journals. It is lifting the existing upper limit of CHF 3000 for the time being. Unreasonably high APCs might be cut.
Books: The SNSF will cover book processing charges (BPCs) for book publications that are immediately made available in OA mode. BPCs are also available for OA book publications that are not based on an SNSF-funded research project.
Applying for BPCs: applicants no longer need to enter publication grants as eligible costs in their applications. They can apply for BPCs directly via an OA platform that is part of mySNF. They will be able to do so even after the end of the project.
Green Road: As until now, journal articles need to be archived in an institutional or disciplinary repository after six months at the latest. For books, there is a new deadline of 12 instead of 24 months. In terms of content, the works archived in the repository must correspond to the publisher’s version (mostly called post-print or accepted manuscript).
No exceptions for articles: The OA commitment applies to all articles. Grantees should only consider publishing houses that respect the OA rules of the SNSF. For books, exceptions may be granted if the costs for image rights are very high.
Co-financing: Publications that are the result of co-financed research are subject to the OA commitment if at least 50% of the total funding amount was contributed by the SNSF.
As of 1 October 2018:
Book chapters: The SNSF will cover book chapter processing charges (BCPCs) in the case of the direct publication of book chapters.
Applying for APCs and BCPCs: Applicants will now be able to apply for APCs and BCPCs on the OA platform itself, even after the end of the project.
