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Open access amplifies the impact of scholarly work and ensures that knowledge is not confined within the walls of academia but is freely accessible to educators, learners, and researchers globally. This democratization of information aligns with UCF’s values and its commitment to fostering a collaborative and inclusive learning environment. 

Faculty at the University of Central Florida (UCF) are invested in teaching and learning with generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and committed to open access by making scholarly works freely available to the public. The combination of these forces has led to the creation of the book ChatGPT Assignments to Use in Your Classroom Today. Authored by Kevin Yee, Kirby Whittington, Erin Doggette, and Laurie Uttich, this open access book is now freely available in the University’s digital repository, STARS (Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship), ushering in a new era for AI education. 

At its core, STARS serves as a centralized hub for storing, archiving, and sharing a diverse array of scholarly outputs. From digitized special collections and datasets to educational resources and publications, STARS breaks down traditional barriers, allowing knowledge to flow freely within and beyond academic circles. ChatGPT Assignments to Use in Your Classroom Today, which has exploded with over 8K downloads since it was added to STARS on October 23, 2023 (and over 1K downloads in the first 24 hours), stands as a testament to the profound impact of open access on scholarship and research on campus.  

Open access provides free access to scholarly research to anyone, anywhere in the world. However, publishing in open access may not be free for authors. That’s because there may be costs associated with publishing.

In some open access journals, if an author wants to publish and make their work openly accessible, they will often have to pay a fee, called an Article Processing Charge (APC). This fee helps off-set publishing and editorial costs that are typically charged as a part of a subscription. Prices for APCs vary and will depend on the publication.

At UCF, there are currently a few different options for APC support for researchers. For more information about these, be sure to visit our guide on open access. 

APC Funding: College of Graduate Studies is currently offering the following APC support for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Students.

• Open Access Publishing Fund (Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Scholars): The College of Graduate Studies currently offers annual support up to $1,500/year for Article Processing Charges (APCs) for current and recent (within one year of graduation or employment) graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

APC Discounts and Waivers from Read & Publish: The UCF Libraries has several ”Read & Publish” agreements with major publishers that covers the APC for UCF authors.  The Libraries pays a yearly subscription fee bundled with waivers for some or all APCs for articles from UCF authors. See the list of current Read & Publish agreements below.

For additional information or if you have questions about current Open Access publishing support, please contact Scholarly Communication Librarian, Sarah Norris. 

Did you know that open access materials, like journal articles, can be found using UCF Libraries’ library system Primo? Sandy Avila, Science Librarian, shows you how to search Primo for OA resources with just a few easy steps.

For more information about locating resources for your research, contact your subject librarian. For more information about open access visit our guide or contact Sarah Norris, Scholarly Communication Librarian.

Have you heard the terms “open textbooks” or, more broadly, the umbrella term “open educational resources” (OER)? OER are free, openly licensed textbooks or other types of course materials. They are designed to be high quality, free alternatives to traditional textbooks.

With over 5.3 million downloads since 2015, STARS helps authors reach a worldwide audience by providing an online home for open access content! STARS, UCF’s Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship, is the digital institutional repository of content by, for, or about the University of Central Florida. Everyday UCF authors use STARS to manage, share, and increase impact for their full range of scholarship while retaining the rights to their works.