The Information Program of the Open Society Institute announces a new grants program for open access journals. The program, part of the Budapest Open Access Initiative, will support publication of research by authors from developing and transition countries, building upon a successful pilot project in 2002 that provided grants to 34 open access journals.

To support open access and the international scholarly community, OSI will provide $50,000 in funding to support the publication in open access journals of articles by authors residing and working in countries where the Soros foundations network is active.

Guidelines for Funding:

1. All open access journals are eligible for funding. Open access is defined as free and unrestricted online availability to current content. Journals should be listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) or meet the criteria to be listed in the DOAJ.
2. Funding will cover the article processing fees for articles that are accepted for publication. Funding will be provided directly to the journal to subsidize the article processing fees.
3. The authors must be residing and working at institutions in one of the 67 countries in which the Soros foundations network is active. If an article has multiple authors, the majority of authors must meet this condition
4. Scholarly journals from all disciplines are eligible for funding.

Application Process:

Publishers of journals interested in applying for a grant should complete the online application form. Questions regarding the application process should be directed to Katalin Batkay.

Selection process:

Decisions on funding will be made according to the following schedule: applications due October 26, 2004; Awards announced November 15, 2004