University’s commitment to Open Research

Read and Publish Agreements

The Library has a number of “Read and Publish” deals that allow University of Waikato corresponding authors to publish in selected journals without payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC). The agreements we have entered have been negotiated by CAUL (Council of Australian University Librarians), of which we are a member.

For more information visit the Read and Publish guide.

What you need to know 

If you are the corresponding author in a journal that is part of an agreement, you will receive an email alerting you to the agreement and asking you to confirm eligibility, usually after acceptance of your manuscript. Please note that for the notification to be triggered, your affiliation needs to be confirmed during the submission process by using your University of Waikato email address and entering the University of Waikato in any affiliation/institution fields. 

There are key differences between the deals that may affect your eligibility.  Some deals are capped, and there are differences in eligibility in terms of publication types and stages. It’s important to read all the information about the deal before you submit your manuscript. 

Further information can be found in the description of an agreement. Contact the Open Research Team at library@waikato.ac.nz for more information about the Read and Publish Agreements. 

Open Access Equity Fund

The Library, through its commitment to bibliodiversity, has established an Open Access Equity Fund. Aimed at supporting those who do not have access to funds to make their research publicly available, the fund allows the Library to contribute to article processing charges (APCs), book processing charges (BPCs) and chapter processing charges (CPCs). The fund is available to University of Waikato academic staff, post-doctoral fellows and postgraduate students.

More information can be found on the Open Access Equity Fund page. 

As an organisation committed to open research, the University of Waikato supports a range of initiatives designed to foster equitable access to information and bibliodiversity. 

"Bibliodiversity is a complex, self-sustaining system of storytelling, writing, publishing and other kinds of production of oral and written literature. The writers and producers are comparable to the inhabitants of an ecosystem. Bibliodiversity contributes to a thriving life of culture and a healthy eco-social system" - CONNECTING THE KNOWLEDGE COMMONS — FROM PROJECTS TO SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE

One way of supporting bibliodiversity is by partnering with other institutions to contribute to global-level initiatives aimed at leveling the playing field in scholarship and providing equitable solutions to challenges. Some of the initiatives we support are below:

 

Support for publishing open journals

The University hosts several journals in-house on the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform. These journals are “diamond” journals, which means they are both free to read and free to publish in. The Library provides support to University staff who manage the journals. Current OJS journals at the University of Waikato include:  

Research Commons

Research Commons is the University of Waikato’s institutional repository. Its purpose is to promote, freely disseminate, and preserve the work of the University of Waikato’s scholars and ensure the research activities of staff and students are made open.  

Benefits of Research Commons 

  • Free, open access to University digital works 

  • Increased visibility of research through higher rankings in search engines 

  • Long-term digital preservation 

  • A stable, unchanging URL that remains with the item in perpetuity 

We host research from our academic staff, such as journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, working papers and reports. University of Waikato academic staff are encouraged to submit their work to Research Commons. Please see our Research Commons guide for more information. 

Access to Theses 

We provide access to the University of Waikato's Higher Degree and Masters Degree theses. 
Students can deposit a copy of their completed thesis in Research Commons. See our Thesis Deposit guide. 

The Open Research Team at the University of Waikato is committed to working with academics who wish to make their research open in ways that work for them.