Dear Indi and colleagues,
Many thanks for your message. You note 'it is very challenging for us as researchers to plan an accurate line-item in grants for APC fees'. I have very little experience in this, and would like to invite other HIFA members, especially those who have experience with research proposals, to share their experience. Please email to: hifa@hifaforums.org
Meanwhile I asked ChatGPT: "We are preparing a health research proposal for an international consortium of academic institutions in high-income and LMICs. The total budget is £1 million. We would like you to prepare a paragraph to highlight how we would publish and disseminate the research. We want the research to be open access and we would like the funder to cover the cost of the APC. We hope to publish the paper open-access in The Lancet but we are prepared to consider other journals if needed."
'Proposed Text for the Dissemination and Publication Plan
To ensure the widest possible impact and accessibility of the research findings, all outputs from this project will be published under open-access terms in leading peer-reviewed journals. Our primary target journal is The Lancet or one of its specialty titles, given their international reach, rigorous standards, and strong record in global health research. Should publication in The Lancet not be feasible, we will consider other high-impact open-access journals of comparable standing. We will request that the funder cover the article processing charges (APCs) to guarantee immediate and unrestricted public access to the findings. In addition to journal publications, we will disseminate results through conference presentations, policy briefs, stakeholder workshops in both high-income and LMIC partner countries, and digital media channels to reach academic, policy, and practitioner audiences globally.'
ChatGPT recommended the following budget:
Open Access APCs $7,000
Conference dissemination $8,000
Stakeholder workshops & policy briefs $10,000
Digital dissemination Website updates, media engagement, video summaries, data visualizations $5,000
Total Dissemination Budget $30,000'.
COMMENT (NPW): For me, it seems relatively straightforward to estimate an APC. Yes, it is impossible to predict exactly what the costs will be at the end of the project (which may be years ahead) as this will depend on many factors. As we have discussed, funders can have clear policies on APCs.
For me, it would be simple - and more flexible - for funders to cap APCs. In the above example, the budget line for APC might be $2,000 rather than $7,000 (depending on the funder's stated APC policy). Even for a million-dollar project this would represent only 0.2% of the total cost of the research. 0.2% to procure editorial expertise, peer review and open access of a final definitive publication.
The Gates Foundation has a clear policy on APCs - they will stop paying them altogether. The question is whether this will increase or decrease the dissemination and application of research evidence, in the short- and long-term, and whether it will thereby improve or worsen health outcomes.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org