Open Access (OA) publishing makes scholarly research free to read, thus helping global researchers grow together. To support Open Access (OA) publishing, the University of Florida (UF) entered into a Gold OA Pilot agreement with Elsevier in 2020. Article Processing Charges (APC) discounts of 10-15% are available to UF authors who choose to publish their work as OA articles in eligible Elsevier OA or hybrid journals. Librarians at UF used this opportunity to better understand researcher publishing behavior. Surveys of authors who published OA or behind a paywall (Subscription) were distributed 11 times between January 2021 and January 2023. A total of 203 surveys were completed, 80% from Subscription authors and 20% from OA authors. Two focus groups were conducted in 2022 to explore researchers’ publishing decisions with qualitative methods. Results illuminate researchers’ familiarity with OA publishing and the complexity of factors that impact their publishing behaviors. Most respondents (66%) had previously published two or more OA articles. Factors influencing their decision whether to publish OA include fee amounts and availability of funds, target audience, and philosophy. Although 56% of survey respondents indicated that the amount of the APC discount influenced their decision whether to publish OA, this correlation was only significant at p<0.05. There was a significant negative correlation between the listed APC fee and the decision to publish OA. As APC fees increased, fewer authors elected to publish OA. From July 2020 through February 2023, APC discounts in this pilot reduced author expenses by nearly $64,000, an average of $1,560 per article yet the majority of authors elected not to publish their eligible articles as OA. Overall, this research exemplifies the challenges with current OA publishing where APC levels restrict sharing new knowledge with the global research community. Proposed new public access compliance mandates in the U.S. offer additional opportunities for researchers to disseminate their work widely