Dear SDB Members, NIH is planning to cap APC (Article Processing Charges) from grant funds for publications, starting in January 2026. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-138.html Proposed Policy Options for Keeping Publication Costs Reasonable: Option 1: Disallow all publication costs. Option 2: Set a $2,000 limit on allowable costs per publication. Option 3: Set a $2,000 limit on allowable costs per publication and allow up to $3,000 when peer reviewers are compensated. Option 4: Set an 0.8% limit on the total amount of an award that can be spent on publication costs, up to $20,000. For example, $250,000 direct cost grant = $2,000 per year for publications. Option 5: Set a $6,000 limit on both the per publication cost and the total amount of an award (0.8% up to $20k) that can be spent on publications. The NIH is requesting comments by Sept 15. It is also possible to contribute comments that are not about any of the 5 options. Comments should be submitted electronically to the following webpage: https://osp.od.nih.gov/comment-form-maximizing-research-funds-by-limiting-allowable-publishing-costs/. Responses are voluntary and may be submitted anonymously. The SDB encourages you to submit your opinions on this important issue. Best, Richard Behringer President, SDB
NIH is considering changes in supporting publication costs--some ideas are quite radical and would endanger our ability to publish at all. I don't love the cots from the big for-profits but it does cost$ to run a journal. Please repost. Comment at:
osp.od.nih.gov/comment-form....
