Do I need to pay an author processing charge (APC) to make my scholarly article available under the Open Access policy?
Answer
UMass does not require any payments to UMass or to a publisher to deposit your work into ScholarWorks under the UMass Open Access policy. The policy stands alone, and is set up so that the nonexclusive license that the policy creates pre-dates any publishing agreement you might sign.
You can agree to pay a publisher fee, but that is not required by the OA policy. If you have questions about language in your publishing agreement that seems to contradict your understanding of the OA Policy, contact copyright@umass.edu to discuss the contract.