Open access publishing agreements
Researchers affiliated to the University of York can publish open access in a wide range of academic journals without having to pay an open access article publication charge (APC).
The Library holds agreements with journal publishers which allow corresponding authors affiliated to University of York to publish open access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence in several thousand titles, with the cost covered by the Library agreement.
Please note that some open access publishing agreements will be changing, or will not be renewed for 2025. Further details are provided below, and this page will be updated as decisions are made. Please get in touch with the Open Research team via the 'Contact us' box above if you need further advice.
Where can I publish open access?
Find journals where you can publish open access free of charge, or where fees are paid by the Library.
Current open access agreements
Please see under the individual agreements below for details.
Journals included: most AIP hybrid journals. Fully open access journals not included.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors must use their University of York postal and email addresses when submitting their papers to AIP.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: all 9 hybrid Physical Review journals. Fully open access journals not included.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: 87 hybrid APA journals and 15 hybrid Hogrefe journals.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors must enter their affiliation as University of York in APA’s submission system and select the open access option which they are presented with after their article has been accepted for publication. APA will contact the Library for confirmation of affiliation on acceptance for publication.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: 25% discount on APCs for 3 Hogrefe fully open access journals:
- European Journal of Psychology Open
- Psychological Test Adaptation and Development
- Sports Psychiatry - Journal of Sports and Exercise Psychiatry
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: 6 hybrid ASM journals:
- Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology
- Infection and Immunity
- Journal of Bacteriology
- Journal of Clinical Microbiology
- Journal of Virology
Author eligibility: any York corresponding or contributing author.
Instructions for authors: authors should accurately enter their institutional affiliation when submitting their manuscript.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: 25% discount on pages charge and supplemental material fees.
2025 renewal: new for 2025.
Journals included: Hybrid journals in BMJ’s ‘Standard Collection’. Use the search box at the top of this page to find which journals are included.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors. In addition, the paper needs to acknowledge one of the following funders:
- UKRI
- Wellcome Trust
- British Heart Foundation
- Blood Cancer UK
- Cancer Research UK
- Parkinsons UK
- Versus Arthritis
(It is not necessary for the corresponding author to be the holder of the funding).
Instructions for authors: when submitting their manuscript to BMJ, eligible authors should enter the University’s Ringgold ID (8748) and their funder’s Open Funder ID when prompted into BMJ’s submission system. BMJ will contact the Library for confirmation of affiliation on acceptance for publication.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: all hybrid and fully open access journals.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission. Further information on the Brill website.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025
Journals included: all BUP and Policy Press hybrid journals.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit: Longitudinal and Life Course Studies is deposited to PMC as standard. Where an author’s funder requires PMC deposit, BUP will work with the author to investigate submission to PMC.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
For CUP we have negotiated a bespoke, smaller agreement for 2025 only. This includes publishing 12 articles in fully open access journals and ‘read’ access to 43 highly used journals. If the 12 article cap is exceeded, we will pivot to pay for fully OA APCs from the York Open Access Fund.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission. CUP will contact the Library for confirmation of affiliation on acceptance for publication.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
Journals included: all CSHLP research journals. Review and methods journals are excluded, because these do not have open access options.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: most hybrid journals and fully open access journals.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes. if required by funder.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: any John Benjamins journal.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes. if required by funder. It is recommended that authors discuss this requirement with John Benjamins, if it pertains.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
As a participant in the Institutional Open Access Program, corresponding authors affiliated to University of York are entitled to a 20% discount on standard article processing charges (APCs) for all MDPI journals; a 10% discount on book processing charges (BPCs) at MDPI Books; and a 15% discount on MDPI language editing services.
To receive the APC discount, select University of York from the Institutional Open Access Program option during the submission process (if you are submitting from on campus then this option should select automatically).
These discounts cannot be used in combination with other discounts offered by MDPI.
Journals included: any Microbiology Society journal.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: 9 PLOS journals:
- PLOS Biology
- PLOS Complex Systems
- PLOS Computational Biology
- PLOS Digital Health
- PLOS Genetics
- PLOS Medicine
- PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
- PLOS ONE
- PLOS Pathogens
(The remaining PLOS journals are not included in the agreement, but are eligible to have the APC covered by York Open Access Fund).
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
Journals included: all Portland Press journals.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: All RUP hybrid journals. Fully open access journals not included.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: all Royal Society journals.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors must select University of York (Ringgold ID 8748) as their affiliation in the The Royal Society’s manuscript submission system (ScholarOne).
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: all RSC hybrid journals. Fully open access journals not included.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit: for articles funded by Europe PubMed Central funders.
Additional discounts: 15% discount on APCs for York submitting corresponding authors in all RSC fully open access journals.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Journals included: Journal of Neuroscience.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: renewed for 2025.
Agreements under review for 2025
The following agreement is still subject to review for 2025.
Journals included: all hybrid and fully open access journals.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should select University of York as their institution on submission in ACS’s submission system, Paragon Plus. At manuscript acceptance, authors will be directed by ACS to sign the appropriate journal publishing agreement for the deal. ACS will contact the Library for confirmation of affiliation on acceptance for publication.
Europe PubMed Central deposit: yes, if the author informs ACS of a funder requirement.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: the ACS open access agreement for 2025 is still subject to negotiation between Jisc (on behalf of the UK HE sector) and ACS. 'Grace' OA publication has been granted until the end of March 2025. (The way that ACS's submission system works means that authors may be presented with information that differs from this, i.e. that the agreement extension ends at the end of January or February, but this can be ignored).
For T&F we are in the process of negotiating a bespoke, smaller agreement for 2025 only. The details are still being finalised but we expect this will include some publishing in hybrid and fully open access journals and ‘read’ access to a selection of highly used titles. T&F have not offered us 'grace' publication while negotiations are in progress, so we do not currently have any publication covered by an agreement with T&F.
Agreements ending 31/12/2024
The following open access publishing agreements will not be renewed for 2025. See the FAQ at the bottom of this page for alternative open access options for journals which will no longer be covered by an agreement.
Journals included: all CoB hybrid journals. Fully open access journals not included.
2025 renewal: cancelled for 2025.
Journals included: Elsevier’s Core hybrid journals, including hybrid Cell Press and Lancet journals. Fully open access journals not included in the free OA deal.
2025 renewal: cancelled for 2025.
Journals included: all hybrid journals and book series within the Lyell Collection.
2025 renewal: cancelled for 2025.
Journals included: most hybrid and fully open access journals. A list of eligible journals is available on the OUP website.
2025 renewal: cancelled for 2025.
Journals included: most Sage hybrid journals. Fully open access journals not included.
2025 renewal: cancelled for 2025.
In order to be covered by the current Sage agreement, articles need to have been accepted for publication and entered into Sage's production system before the end of 2024.
Journals included: most SN hybrid journals, including those published under the Palgrave and Nature imprints. Fully open access journals are not included. See the Springer website for a full list of eligible journals.
2025 renewal: cancelled for 2025.
SN have advised us that papers accepted for publication and approved by the Library before the end of 31 December 2024 will be covered by the current agreement. Papers which have not been approved by the Library by end of that date will not be covered. (As noted above, SN requires that the Library approve papers - i.e. confirm the corresponding author's affiliation to the University - after they have been accepted for publication. This is managed via SN's online system. SN are unable to confirm how long it usually takes after acceptance before a paper is available for approval in their system, because each journal has its own process and timeframe. However, the Library will ensure that any papers that are waiting for approval in SN's system by the end of 31 December will be approved).
Journals included: most Wiley hybrid and fully open access journals, including those published under the Hindawi imprint. See the Wiley website for a full list of the journals included.
Author eligibility: York submitting corresponding authors.
Instructions for authors: authors should use their University of York email address and give University of York as their affiliation on submission. Further author instructions on the Wiley website. Wiley will contact the Library for confirmation of affiliation on acceptance for publication.
Europe PubMed Central deposit : yes.
Additional discounts: none.
2025 renewal: cancelled for 2025.
All new submissions to fully open access journals from January 1st 2025 will be excluded from the agreement.
All new acceptances in hybrid journals from January 1st 2025 will be excluded from the agreement.
If your journal is no longer covered by an OA publishing agreement, then the options open to you depend on whether the journal is fully open access (only publishing open access articles) or hybrid (publishing a mix of open access and non-open access articles).
If your journal is fully open access and listed on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), then it may be eligible to have the open access fee (APC) paid from York Open Access Fund (YOAF). You can review the full eligibility requirements for YOAF and request funding on the YOAF web page.
If your journal is hybrid, and you do not have access to funds to pay the APC (e.g. from your research grant), you can publish on a non-OA basis, without incurring a fee from the publisher, and make your article open access by uploading your author accepted manuscript to Pure (research staff) or White Rose Research Online (WRRO) (postgraduate researchers and teaching staff). See the "York's Open Access Policy" section of our Open Access Publishing guide for how this works for research staff. See the WRRO website for details of how postgraduate researchers and teaching staff can create an account in WRRO.
No. If the journal that you are submitting to is included in a publisher agreement, then open access can be requested through the journal’s own systems and there is no need to submit a request to the Library.
In some cases publishers will automatically include your article based on your affiliation to University of York. For some journals you may have to select the appropriate option in the publisher’s system.
In order to publish under one of our agreements the submitting corresponding author (i.e. the author who manages the publication process and corresponds with the publisher) must be affiliated with the University of York. In order to be classed as affiliated to the University a person needs to be employed by the University, hold an emeritus title from the University or be a registered student. Usually, the affiliation needs to be current at the time of submission, though publisher practices may vary on this point. With some deals affiliation is determined solely by the publisher on the basis of information submitted by the author, but with others the publisher will ask the Library to confirm the author's affiliation.
For a very small minority of agreements, eligibility will be limited to author’s acknowledging funding from UKRI, Wellcome Trust, or certain other medical research charities. Where this is the case it will be clearly indicated on the journal search tool.
If you are unsure about your eligibility for the agreement, you can contact the open access team in the Library, or the publisher of the journal to which you are submitting.
All agreements will include original research and review articles. Some publishers will also allow other articles types to be made open access through agreements. For more information you should contact the publisher of the journal to which you are submitting.
Hybrid journals publish a mixture of open access articles and articles that require payment to access (either via a personal subscription, an institutional subscription, or by purchasing individual articles). Fully open access journals only contain open access articles.
Europe PubMed Central (Europe PMC) is an open access repository of life sciences articles supported by a number of research funders. Publishers which deposit to Europe PMC generally do so either if the article acknowledges funding from one of the funders that require Europe PMC deposit (generally those which support Europe PMC), or if the article falls into the life sciences subject area.
Content in Europe PMC and the US-based PubMed Central is mirrored. Some publishers will deposit to PubMed Central instead of Europe PMC, but it doesn’t matter which repository an article is deposited to - it will appear in both.