UMass Amherst Announces New Open Access Transformative Agreement With Association of Computing Machinery

The UMass Amherst Libraries (Libraries) have partnered with the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) and the College of Engineering in an open access agreement with the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). Under the terms of this agreement, UMass Amherst readers can now access all ACM publications, and UMass Amherst corresponding authors will have their works published with open access licenses at no cost to the author. ACM has a stated goal of publishing all its journals, magazines and conference proceedings open access by 2026. The libraries have signed a five-year agreement with ACM, made possible by additional funding from CICS and COE.

Over the past five years, an average of 62 UMass corresponding authors have published with ACM annually. In making future publications openly licensed, ACM data suggests UMass authors will benefit from 2.7-3.7 times more readership and 25% more citations than paywalled publications. The UMass-ACM agreement will make open access publication of all paper types (see complete list here) seamless for corresponding authors using their UMass Amherst-affiliated email address for accepted manuscripts starting in 2024.

"Open access publishing ensures that our research reaches a broader audience, transcending traditional barriers," notes Hamed Zamani, assistant professor in CICS, who publishes most of his papers with ACM. "This not only facilitates knowledge dissemination but also enhances the visibility and impact of our work within the academic community and beyond. I appreciate the university for its commitment to supporting researchers and advancing the principles of open science. Such initiatives contribute to the democratization of knowledge and play a crucial role in driving innovation and progress."

Prashant Shenoy, CICS associate dean of computing and facilities, echoes Zamani's enthusiasm, saying, "I am delighted that UMass will become part of the ACM OPEN initiative, which will allow all our students and faculty to make their research accessible broadly without restrictions. In particular, CICS has been leading multiple efforts on computing for societal good, and it's great that ACM publications in this emerging area will be available through an open-access model."

"The collaborative funding of ACM Open by the University Libraries, the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences, and the College of Engineering represents a turning point not only for the investment in open science, but also in how the libraries is able to partner across the institution for the benefit of our faculty and students," notes Nandita Mani, dean of University Libraries. "This transformational deal will increase opportunities for research and scholarship and also realize significant savings over time. It also represents the libraries' commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as it will aid in providing access to quality education and reducing inequalities for our scholarly community. I'm truly grateful to Dean Haas and Dean Raman for their willingness to support this initiative, and I look forward to what we will build together in the future."

For more information about publishing under this agreement with ACM, contact Christine Turner, scholarly communication librarian, at cturner@library.umass.edu, or Rebecca Reznik-Zellen, head of the Science and Engineering Library, at rreznikz@library.umass.edu.

This article was originally published by the UMass Amherst Offfice of News & Media Relations.