The following Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section addresses common concerns and questions related to the Library's open access funding support. If you are looking for more general information about open access, please click here.
How do I apply for publication cost funding?
We have agreements with several publishers to cover article processing charges. Kindly visit our List of Publishers page, which provides author instructions specific to each publisher; the instructions describe which journals are included and the necessary steps on how to request funding. We may also fund your articles with publishers that do not have an agreement with the Library through our Publishing Fund. In such cases, we kindly ask you to review the funding criteria and fill out our online application form.
When should I apply for publication cost funding?
The deadline for submitting a funding request varies from one publisher to another, and we ask that you follow publisher-specific instructions that you can find here. We also recommend that you contact us as soon as you have submitted an article to a publisher that has an agreement with the Library to ensure that article processing charges are covered. For journal publishers that do not have an agreement with the Library, we ask that you submit our online application form as soon as the article is accepted.
Under specific conditions, the Library may also provide funding confirmation before an article has been accepted by the publisher. Please see Funding Criteria for the Publishing Fund or contact [email protected] for more details.
Am I eligible for funding through the Library's publishing agreements?
Corresponding authors from a non-profit institution of higher education or research institution within Qatar are eligible for our fund. We kindly ask you to check the “Entitled Authors” section under the publisher-specific author instructions.
The publisher requires a code to be entered for funding the publication of the article. How I can get the code?
Please contact our open access team and we will provide the required code.
When should I add the Qatar National Library acknowledgment statement to my manuscript?
Please add the funding acknowledgment statement to your manuscript as soon as we confirm that we will fund the publication of your article.
Authors should duly acknowledge funding by the Library in the published article using the following standard statement: “Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library”
I have published with a publisher that does not have an agreement with the Library. Can you still fund the publication of my article?
Yes, we kindly ask you to review our funding criteria and fill out our online application form.
What should I do if my article processing charges cost more than the Library’s 3,000 USD limit?
If this is a publisher that does not have an agreement with the Library, we can cover up to 3,000 USD of the article processing charge. We kindly ask you to review our funding criteria and fill out our online application form. Once we review the application and confirm funding, we will ask that you request the publisher to generate two invoices: one invoice that is addressed to the Library and another invoice for the remainder amount addressed to you or your institution.
I have been asked to provide an invoice for my recently accepted publication. To whom should the invoice be addressed?
If we have already confirmed funding, we ask that you request the publisher to provide an invoice addressed to Qatar National Library:
Qatar National Library
P.O Box 5825
Al Luqta Street, Al-Rayyan
Doha, Qatar
How long does the article processing charge payment take?
For publishers that we do not have an agreement with, the payment process is done according to standard procedures and the payment may take up to 60 days from the moment that we accept the funding application. For publishers that have an agreement with the Library, the payment of an article processing charge is made immediately once the article is accepted for publication.
What should I do if I receive a reminder from the publisher for an unpaid invoice?
If we have already confirmed that we will fund the publication of your article, we ask that you email the publisher and inform them that the Library is covering the fees. If the publisher continues to send reminders, please forward us the email and we will contact the publisher about the payment status.
Can I pay the article processing charge and submit a reimbursement request?
Unfortunately, we cannot provide reimbursements. We can process only unpaid publishers invoices, so we ask that you submit our online application form as soon as your article is accepted.
Can the Library pay other costs, such as submission fees, page charges or color figure charges?
No, we can only cover the article processing charges related to making the article open access. All other charges are not covered by the Library.
Does the Library cover open access book processing fees?
Yes, we consider applications for open access books or book chapters on a case-by-case basis, depending on the availability of funding. Please contact us here.