This page describes the University of Melbourne's preferred open access publishing pathways:
These pathways align with the Principles for Open Access to Research Outputs at Melbourne and NHMRC and ARC funder open access policies.
When a research output cannot be published open access, University researchers are expected to pursue repository open access, which we can facilitate with our institutional repository, Minerva Access.
This page also provides information on open access publishing discounts available to University of Melbourne researchers, for both hybrid and open access journals and publishers.
Note that the University discourages the payment of Article Processing Charges (APCs) to hybrid journals, preferencing the pathways noted above.
When publishing open access, authors typically select a Creative Commons licence for their work. For more information on Creative Commons licences, visit our Copyright website. Note that you may be required to select a certain licence as specified by your research funder.
Open access journals and publishers
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a quality-controlled, searchable index of fully open access journals. Many open access journals do not levy Article Processing Charges (APCs) - these are sometimes referred to as Diamond open access journals and they are free for authors and readers alike. Almost 70% of the 19,000+ journals in the DOAJ do not charge for publishing, instead being financially supported by institutions, organisations, societies, or grants.
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Where APCs are charged, note that the University does not have central funding for the payment of such open access publishing fees. However, individual faculties or schools may have funding available, and often grant funding can be used for this purpose. Note that discounts are available for University of Melbourne corresponding authors publishing in select open access journals that levy APCs, as described below.
Likewise, in terms of open access book publishing, many publishers will require the payment of a Book Processing Charge (BPC) or Chapter Processing Charge (CPC). However, there are several open access book publishers that do not levy BPCs, including Open Book Publishers and Open Humanities Press.
Open access publishing agreements
Under the open access publishing agreements detailed below, University of Melbourne corresponding authors can avoid author-facing open access Article Processing Charges (APCs) for eligible journal articles. Note that other publishing fees, such as page charges, colour charges, or service fees, may still apply for some journals.
The spreadsheet linked below lists all journals covered by our 2023 open access publishing agreements. It includes cap details and projections and will be updated as these change. If your chosen journal is listed, check the publisher’s eligibility criteria below for the article types covered and other relevant conditions.
View the 2023 list of all covered journals (Excel 365)
Spreadsheet last updated: 21 September 2023. University of Melbourne access only.
IMPORTANT: For all agreements, eligibility depends on the article's corresponding author affiliating with the University of Melbourne. In most cases, the corresponding author must provide the University of Melbourne as their primary affiliation in both the publishing system and in the article itself. Corresponding authors should also use an institutional email address (@unimelb.edu.au or @student.unimelb.edu.au) whenever possible, as this helps verify affiliation.
VIDEO: A video exploring the University's 2023 open access publishing agreements is available in the FAQ below.
Below is a complete list, by publisher, of our open access publishing agreements. Most of these are Read and Publish (R&P) agreements negotiated by the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL). Note that all agreements are reviewed annually.
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AIP Publishing (American Institute of Physics)
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active from 1 January 2023 (for articles accepted from this date).
Journal coverage: Limited (capped) open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in most hybrid AIP Publishing journals. View the eligible titles list: PDF download; Excel (.xlsx) download.
Journal restrictions: Fully open access journals are not included in the agreement (author-facing APCs will still apply). Two hybrid titles are also currently excluded from the agreement: Journal of the Physical Society of Japan and Physics Today.
Eligible article types: Communication, conference article, contributed paper, fast track, invited paper, letter, method, note, perspective, research article, research update, review articles, roadmap, tutorial.
Cap details: This is a capped agreement. However, the publishing cap is set at over 190% of participating institutions' average annual publishing amount, so it is very unlikely the cap will be reached in 2023. All Australian universities that have signed the CAUL-negotiated agreement contribute to the same cap, which is tracked on the CAUL R&P Guide's AIP Publishing page.
Licence options: CC BY.
How to use the agreement: Corresponding authors must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and email address upon submission, and in accepted paper, to be recognised as eligible under the agreement.
Further information: AIP Publishing Read & Publish Author Guidelines; CAUL R&P Guide.
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Brill
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in journals to which the University of Melbourne currently subscribes. View the covered journals list (Excel spreadsheet).
Journal restrictions: Some journals excluded from this agreement. Only those in the list above are covered.
Eligible article types include: Research articles, Review articles.
Licence options: Author’s choice of CC BY, CC BY-NC, or CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement: Authors must use their University of Melbourne affiliation. Procedures change depending on the mode of submission:
- If submitting through Brill’s Editorial Manager system, authors will be asked whether they are affiliated with an institution that has a read-and-publish agreement in place.
- If submitting directly to a journal contact, authors must request to publish open access and indicate that they are affiliated with an institution that has a read-and-publish agreement in place.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide (note that CAUL's included journal list does not reflect our Brill subscriptions and should not be relied upon for determining coverage under the agreement); Brill - Institutional Open Access Agreements.
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Cambridge University Press
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in most hybrid and fully open access journals. View the full list of included and excluded journals (CAUL Airtable).
Journal restrictions: Several journals are excluded from this agreement as they do not yet have open access publishing options.
Eligible article types include: Research articles, Review articles, Rapid communications, Brief reports, Case reports.
Licence options: Author’s choice of CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-SA, or CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement: In all correspondence with the Cambridge University Press, Ironclad, and Rightslink, authors must use their University of Melbourne email and postal address, and provide their ORCID.
- Follow CUP’s usual article submission process via the journal’s homepage on Cambridge Core.
- On acceptance of the article, the corresponding author must complete an author publishing agreement (this may be sent via the Ironclad system).
- The corresponding author then:
- Selects the "Open Access" publishing option.
- Chooses a Creative Commons licence (e.g. CC BY)
- If prompted, refers the Article Processing Charge (APC) to “My institution”.
- APCs are automatically waived by Rightslink (Copyright Clearance Center) when the corresponding author is from an eligible institution (verified using their affiliation and institutional email address).
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; CUP - Read and Publish Agreements; CUP - Open Access Waivers and Discounts.
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Cogitatio
Type: Open access publisher agreement.
Status: Active from 1 January 2022. Renewed for 2023.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in all journals hosted by the publisher.
NOTE: The publisher will charge 150€ to authors whose articles range from 8,001 to 9,000 words.
Licence options: CC BY.
How to use the agreement: Corresponding authors must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and email address to be eligible for open access publishing under this agreement.
Further information: Cogitatio Press.
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Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Type: Read and Publish.
Status: Active from 1 January 2023 (articles accepted from this date).
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in five of the CSHLP journals:
- Genes & Development
- Genome Research
- Learning & Memory
- RNA
- Molecular Case Studies (a fully open access journal)
Journal restrictions: The following three CSHLP journals are not included in the agreement (author-facing APCs will apply for open access publishing): CSH Perspectives in Biology, CSH Perspectives in Medicine, and CSH Protocols.
Eligible article types: Fully peer-reviewed research articles accepted for publication.
Licence options: CC BY; CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement: University of Melbourne corresponding authors must use their University affiliation and unimelb.edu.au email address to be eligible for open access publishing under this agreement.
Further information: CSHLP Transformative Agreements FAQ.
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Company of Biologists
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in the publisher’s three hybrid journals:
- Development
- Journal of Cell Science
- Journal of Experimental Biology
Journal restrictions: Fully open access journals are not included in this agreement (author-facing APCs will still apply).
Eligible article types: Original research paper article.
Licence options: Authors' choice of: CC-BY; CC-BY-SA; CC-BY-ND; CC-BY-NC; CC-BY-NC-SA; CC-BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement: University of Melbourne corresponding authors must use their University email address to be eligible for open access publishing under this agreement. Submissions should be made using the publisher’s online submission platform.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; Company of Biologists - Read & Publish Open Access Initiative.
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CSIRO Publishing
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in all 15 CSIRO-owned journals, and two (of seven) society journals published by CSIRO. View the included journals list (CSIRO Publishing website).
Note that several of CSIRO Publishing's fully open access journals do not charge APCs (see DOAJ). They are not listed in the included journals list, but they are free to publish in.
Journal restrictions: Some society journals are excluded from this agreement. Only those in the list above are covered under the R&P agreement.
Licence options: Author’s choice of CC-BY, CC-BY-NC or CC-BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement:
- Corresponding authors must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and email address to be eligible for open access publishing under this agreement.
- Submissions must be made through CSIRO’s submission platform, ScholarOne. Eligible authors will be identified by their email addresses and Ringgold ID.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; CSIRO Publishing - Read and Publish.
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De Gruyter
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in hybrid journals to which the University of Melbourne subscribes. View the list of eligible hybrid journals (Excel spreadsheet).
Journal restrictions: De Gruyter’s fully open access (gold) journals are not covered under the agreement, although an APC discount is available (see below).
Eligible article types include: Research articles (original papers), Review articles, Brief communications, Continuing education, Case reports.
Licence options: CC BY (as per De Gruyter’s Open Access Publishing Agreement with authors).
How to use the agreement: Corresponding authors must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and unimelb.edu.au email address to be eligible for open access publishing under this agreement. The publisher will automatically check eligibility based on this email address and inform the corresponding author that a read-and-publish agreement applies. More information on De Gruyter’s submission processes can be found on their website.
Related discount: When publishing in eligible fully open access (gold) journals (excluded from this agreement), University of Melbourne corresponding authors can receive a 20% APC discount. View a list of open access De Gruyter journals eligible for this discount (Excel spreadsheet). See "Discounts on open access publishing fees" below for details.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide (note that CAUL's included journals list does not reflect our De Gruyter subscriptions and should not be relied upon for determining coverage under the agreement); De Gruyter - Funding & Support.
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Elsevier
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active from 1 January 2023.
Important update: From 1 January to 14 June, 235 journals had APCs covered under the agreement. On 15 June, coverage was expanded to 1,649 journals (only for articles accepted for publication from 15 June).
Journal coverage: Limited (capped) open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in selected hybrid Elsevier journals.
For articles accepted for publication on or after 15 June 2023, the covered journals list includes 1,649 of Elsevier's 2,829 journals. Articles in these titles are eligible for full APC waivers, subject to the eligibility criteria below. View the current full list of included and excluded journals (CAUL Airtable). Elsevier has also released a tool for finding participating journals by title or subject area.
For articles accepted between 1 January 2023 and 14 June 2023, a more limited covered journals list of 237 titles applies. For reference, you can view the old list of covered journals.
Journal restrictions: Only specific titles are covered - check the list linked above for journals included in the R&P agreement. Lancet titles and Hybrid Cell Press titles are excluded from the agreement. Fully open access journals are also excluded from the agreement (author-facing APCs will still apply).
Eligible article types: Research Articles (Full Length Article) and Review Articles are included. However, other article types such as brief articles, practice guidelines, and short communications are not included.
Cap details: This is a capped agreement. CAUL has determined an included journals list, which aims to allow the agreement's publishing cap to cover the entire year's publishing in these titles. In 2023, the cap is set at 60% of participating institutions' 2021 publication count, and the included journals list covers the titles most heavily published in by these institutions. All Australian universities that have signed the CAUL-negotiated agreement contribute to the same cap, which is tracked on the CAUL R&P Guide's Elsevier page. Current estimates suggest the cap will not be reached in 2023, although this may change due to publishing trends.
If an article is accepted after the cap has been reached, it will be published behind a paywall (unless an APC is paid), at which point the author should deposit their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) in Minerva Access to pursue free repository open access options.
Licence options: CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement: To be eligible, the responsible corresponding author must provide their University of Melbourne affiliation as their primary affiliation both in Elsevier's Online Author Communication System (OACS) and in the article itself. When possible, for verification of affiliation, corresponding authors should use their institutional email address (@unimelb.edu.au or @student.unimelb.edu.au).
- Follow Elsevier's usual submission process.
- On acceptance, the corresponding author must complete a Rights and Access form in the OACS. This is the author's publishing agreement with Elsevier.
- In this form, the corresponding author must:
- Select the University of Melbourne as their organisation.
- Select the "Gold Open Access" publishing option.
- Select a Creative Commons licence (e.g. CC BY).
- Coverage under the capped agreement is sent to CAUL for approval. They will quickly approve APC waivers for corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Melbourne, verifying this by the author's use of their unimelb email address.
As noted in Elsevier's Publishing Journey website: "If the institution does not validate paying the APC, then you receive an invoice for the full APC. In case you have no funding available, you contact the us via email to change the publishing option to subscription to publish free of charge within two weeks of Elsevier sending the invoice."
Related discount: Beyond the titles fully covered by the agreement, University of Melbourne corresponding authors are eligible for a 15% APC discount on Elsevier's core hybrid titles and fully open access (gold) titles. Fully open access (gold) Cell Press and fully open access (gold) Lancet titles are eligible for this discount. See "Discounts on open access publishing fees" below for details.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; Elsevier Publishing Journey (refer to the section "Gold Open Access: Central Funding Agreement"); UPUBLISH (advice and guidance from the Elsevier ANZ team, including further information on the R&P/Transformative agreement).
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Future Science Group
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in FSG's hybrid journals only. These titles are hosted on two websites: Future Medicine and Future Science. View the full list of included journals (CAUL).
Journal restrictions: Fully open access journals are not included in this agreement (author-facing APCs will still apply).
Article type restrictions: The agreement excludes Drug Evaluation articles and content or research that is sponsored or funded by pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies.
Licence options: CC BY.
How to use the agreement: Corresponding authors must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and unimelb.edu.au email address to be eligible for open access publishing under this agreement.
- Corresponding authors must use their University of Melbourne email address and affiliation in the submission system.
- Complete an open access form (.doc download) and upload it either at submission or revision.
- When your manuscript is accepted, the FSG payment system will allow you to check your institution is listed correctly and remove the open access fee.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; Future Science Group - Open Access.
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Geological Society (Lyell Collection)
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors of all article types into six hybrid journals and three book series. View the list of included journals and book series (CAUL).
Journal restrictions: The agreement only covers the hybrid journals and book series specified, not the full range of Lyell Collection titles.
Eligible article types: All article types.
Licence options: CC BY.
How to use the agreement: University of Melbourne corresponding authors must use their University email address to be eligible for open access publishing under this agreement. Submissions should be made using the publisher’s online submission platform.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; The Geological Society - Read and Publish.
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IOP Publishing (Institute of Physics)
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active from 1 January 2023 (for articles accepted from this date).
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in eligible hybrid and open access IOP Publishing journals. 75 journals (including 19 gold open access journals) are covered by the agreement. View the full 2023 list of included and excluded journals (CAUL Airtable).
Journal restrictions: Some titles are excluded from the agreement, including titles from partner societies (Chinese Physical Society and American Astronomical Society) and some collections of conference proceedings.
Eligible article types include: research articles, special issue articles, review articles, and letters. Note that only "primary research articles" are eligible for open access in Reports on Progress in Physics under the agreement.
Licence options: CC BY.
How to use the agreement: View IOP's step-by-step guide.
- The corresponding author must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and unimelb.edu.au email address at the time of submission to be recognised as eligible under the agreement.
- When submitting to a hybrid IOP journal, you will be asked at Step 6 whether you wish to choose open access for the article. IOP recommends selecting "No" at this stage to avoid facing an APC if your article is ultimately ineligible.
- When assessing your article, IOP will use your affiliation to identify your eligibility for open access publishing under the agreement. They will send you an email confirming your eligibility with the subject line: "Open access options for your article."
- Either during peer review or upon acceptance, the corresponding author will be asked to sign an open access copyright form allowing publication under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence.
- For details, read IOP's Guide to submitting under a transformative agreement.
Note: Some IOP journals attract additional charges that are not covered under this agreement, such as page charges.
Further information: IOP Publishing Transformative and Institutional Open Access Agreements; IOP Publishing Transformative Agreement Hub; CAUL R&P Guide.
Downloads: CAUL IOP Publishing leaflet (PDF).
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Microbiology Society
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in all six Microbiology Society journals.
Journal restrictions: None.
Licence options: CC BY or CC BY-NC. CC0 for accompanying data.
How to use this agreement: Corresponding authors must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and should use their unimelb.edu.au email address in the accepted paper to be recognised as eligible.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; Microbiology Society - Publish and Read.
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Oxford University Press
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Journal coverage: Limited (capped) open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in hybrid OUP journals. View the full list of included and excluded OUP journals (CAUL Airtable).
Journal restrictions: Fully open access journals are not included in this agreement (author-facing APCs will still apply). Also note that some OUP journals do not yet offer hybrid open access publishing and are not covered under the agreement.
Eligible article types include: Research articles, Review articles, Case reports, Brief reports.
Cap details: This is a capped agreement. All Australian universities that have signed the CAUL-negotiated agreement contribute to the same cap, which is tracked on the CAUL R&P Guide's Oxford University Press page. Current estimates suggest the cap may not be reached in 2023, although this may change due to publishing trends.
If an article is accepted after the cap has been reached, it will be published behind a paywall (unless an APC is paid), at which point the author should deposit their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) in Minerva Access to pursue free repository open access options.
Licence options: CC BY, CC BY-NC, or CC BY-NC-ND, depending on the journal. CC BY is offered by 96% of OUP journals.
How to use the agreement: Corresponding authors must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and unimelb.edu.au email address in the accepted paper to be recognised as eligible.
NOTE: In 2022, the wording of the OUP acceptance email was unclear in regard to who covers open access publishing costs. If your article meets the eligibility criteria outlined above, it will be covered by the agreement and you will not face article processing charges (APCs) - when you "confirm that you will pay the Open Access charge," you are only confirming that you will make use of the existing open access publishing agreement between OUP and the University of Melbourne, facilitated by the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL). If you need further assistance, please email scholarly-comms@unimelb.edu.au.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; OUP - Read and Publish Agreements.
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Portland Press (Biochemical Society)
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in all seven Biochemical Society journals. View the list of included journals.
Journal restrictions: None.
Licence options: Author’s choice of CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement: Submit your article using the publisher’s platform and provide the University of Melbourne as your affiliation. You will be recognised as being eligible for open access publishing with no author-facing APCs when you select your institution in the submission system.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; Portland Press - Read & Publish with Unlimited Open Access.
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Royal Society
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in all 10 Royal Society journals (both hybrid and open access titles).
Journal restrictions: None.
Licence options: CC BY.
How to use the agreement: Select the ‘Read & Publish’ option during submission, selecting the University of Melbourne from the list of participating institutions. Corresponding authors should use their University of Melbourne affiliation and unimelb.edu.au email address in the accepted paper to be recognised as eligible.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; Royal Society - Read & Publish.
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SAGE Publishing
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active from 1 January 2023 (articles accepted from this date).
Journal coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in over 900 hybrid SAGE journals (the SAGE Premier Package journals that offer open access publishing via SAGE Choice). View the full 2023 list of included and excluded journals (CAUL Airtable).
Journal restrictions: 12 hybrid journals are excluded from the agreement, as they do not yet support open access publishing via SAGE Choice. Gold open access journals are not included in the agreement, although an APC discount is available (see below).
Eligible article types: Covered article types include: Original Research Papers, Review Papers, Brief Communications, Short Reports, and Case Reports.
The agreement does not cover: Articles published as part of commercially sponsored supplements, Errata, Book reviews, Editorials, Published abstracts, Call for papers, News items or similar.
Licence options include: CC BY; CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement: The responsible corresponding author must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and email address upon article submission and in the accepted paper to be recognised as eligible.
According to the SAGE website, "SAGE will contact all eligible authors to inform them of the agreement and invite them to the SAGE Open Access Portal to take up the offer as soon as their accepted article has been received into SAGE’s Production department."
Related discount: When publishing in fully open access (Gold) SAGE journals (excluded from this Read and Publish agreement), University of Melbourne corresponding authors are eligible for a 20% APC discount. See "Discounts on open access publishing fees" below for details.
Further information: SAGE Publishing - Australia & New Zealand (CAUL); CAUL R&P Guide.
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Springer Nature
Cap notice: Current estimates suggest the agreement's annual open access publishing cap will likely be reached in late October 2023. Further details and guidance below.
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Journal coverage: Limited (capped) open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in all hybrid Springer, Palgrave, ADIS, and Academic Journals on nature.com. View the full 2023 list of included and excluded journals (CAUL Airtable) to determine eligibility.
Journal restrictions: This agreement does not cover Nature and other Nature research journals. Fully open access journals, including those published by SpringerOpen and BMC (BioMed Central), are not included in this agreement (author-facing APCs will still apply). Other exclusions are indicated in the CAUL R&P Guide.
Eligible article types:
- Original Paper: Standard article, generally presenting new results which may also be referred to as Original Research, Original Article, Original Paper or Research Paper.
- Review Paper: Standard article, interpreting previously published results.
- Brief Communication: Short article submitted for rapid publication that exhibits the same structure as a standard article.
- Continuing Education: Article forming integral part of further education (usually medical).
Cap details: This is a capped agreement. All Australian universities that have signed the CAUL-negotiated agreement contribute to the same cap, which is tracked on the CAUL R&P Guide's Springer Nature page. Current estimates suggest the annual cap will be reached on or around 31 October 2023.
If an article is accepted after the cap has been reached, it will be published behind a paywall (unless an APC is paid), at which point the author should deposit their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) in Minerva Access to pursue free repository open access options.
Licence options: Author’s choice of CC BY, CC BY-NC, or CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement: To be eligible, corresponding authors must provide their University of Melbourne affiliation as their primary affiliation both in the Springer Nature publishing system and in the article itself.
When possible, for verification of affiliation, corresponding authors should use their institutional email address (@unimelb.edu.au or @student.unimelb.edu.au) and submit from a computer with a University IP Address (either using on-campus wi-fi or the University’s VPN).
Note: Check Springer Nature journal websites carefully prior to submission, as some charge additional fees on top of their open access Article Processing Charges (APCs) and these are not covered under the Read and Publish agreement. Such fees include page charges, colour charges, and Rapid Service Fees.
Related discount: When publishing in BMC and SpringerOpen journals (excluded from this Read and Publish agreement), University of Melbourne corresponding authors are eligible for a 15% APC discount. See "Discounts on open access publishing fees" below for details.
Further information: Springer Nature video on how the agreement works; Springer Nature website; CAUL R&P Guide.
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Taylor & Francis
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active from 1 January 2023 (for articles accepted from this date).
Journal coverage: Limited (capped) open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in selected hybrid Taylor & Francis journals. In 2023, 348 of T&F's 2,553 journals are included in the agreement and eligible for full APC waivers (subject to the eligibility criteria below). View the full 2023 list of included and excluded journals (CAUL Airtable).
Journal restrictions: Only titles in the included journals list are covered. Fully open access journals are excluded from the agreement (author-facing APCs will still apply).
Eligible article types: Covers T&F's core content types. This includes: Article, Review, Research Article, Review Article, Report, Short Communication, Case Report Note, Original Article, and Guest Editorial.
Cap details: This is a capped agreement. CAUL has determined an included journals list, which aims to allow the cap to cover the entire year's publishing in these titles. In 2023, the cap is set at 69% of participating institutions' 2021 publication count, and the included journals list covers the titles most heavily published in by these institutions. All Australian universities that have signed the CAUL-negotiated agreement contribute to the same cap, which is tracked on the CAUL R&P Guide's Taylor & Francis page. Current estimates suggest the cap will not be reached in 2023, although this may change due to publishing trends.
If an article is accepted after the cap has been reached, it will be published behind a paywall (unless an APC is paid), at which point the author should deposit their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) in Minerva Access to pursue free repository open access options.
Licence options include: CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement: The responsible corresponding author must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and unimelb.edu.au email address upon article submission and in the accepted paper to be recognised as eligible.
Related discount: When publishing open access in T&F journals excluded from this Read and Publish agreement, University of Melbourne corresponding authors are eligible for a 10% APC discount. See "Discounts on open access publishing fees" below for details.
Further information: Taylor & Francis Online - CAUL Transformative Agreement; CAUL R&P Guide.
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Wiley
Cap notice: Current estimates suggest the agreement's annual open access publishing cap will likely be reached in mid-November 2023. Further details and guidance below.
Type: Read and Publish (via CAUL).
Status: Active since 2022.
Increased coverage in 2023: From 1 January 2023, coverage has been expanded to include Wiley and Hindawi open access journals. Eligible authors publishing in covered open access journals will not face APCs, unless they submit after the annual publishing cap is reached. This expanded coverage applies to articles first submitted on or after 1 January 2023.
Journal coverage: Limited (capped) open access publishing for University of Melbourne corresponding authors in hybrid and open access Wiley and Hindawi journals in 2023. This includes over 1,300 hybrid journals and over 500 open access journals. A full list of eligible journals can be found in the CAUL R&P Guide.
Journal restrictions: Some of Wiley's subscription-only journals do not yet offer open access publishing. About 70 journals, from Wiley and Hindawi, are not covered in 2023. Exclusions are noted in the eligible journal list in the CAUL R&P Guide.
Eligible article types include: Primary research and review articles, including original articles; Case studies; Reviews; Short Communications. See Wiley's full list of article classifications (.xlsx download), which indicates which types are eligible for open access publishing (in column C).
Cap details: This is a capped agreement. All Australian universities that have signed the CAUL-negotiated agreement contribute to the same cap, which is tracked on the CAUL R&P Guide's Wiley and Hindawi page. CAUL currently projects that the cap will likely be reached on or around 14 November 2023.
For Wiley hybrid journals, if an article is accepted after the cap has been reached, it will be published behind a paywall (unless an APC is paid), at which point the author should deposit their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) in Minerva Access to pursue free repository open access options.
For Wiley open access journals, including Hindawi journals, APC coverage is confirmed at the point of submission, not acceptance. For details, see "How to use the agreement for open access Wiley and Hindawi journals" below.
Licence options: Author’s choice of CC BY, CC BY-NC, or CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use the agreement for hybrid Wiley journals:
- Follow Wiley's usual submission process.
- On article acceptance, in Wiley's Author Services platform, confirm a responsible corresponding author - this nominated author will determine eligibility for an open access publishing agreement.
- In the Author Services platform, confirm open access publishing (eligibility is recognised automatically, based on institutional affiliation and article type) and nominate a Creative Commons licence.
- Upon completion of the Author Services process, the funding request will be sent to CAUL for approval. The responsible corresponding author must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and email address to be recognised as eligible. CAUL will quickly approve funding under the agreement for eligible authors.
How to use the agreement for open access Wiley and Hindawi journals:
- When first submitting to the journal, nominate a (responsible) corresponding author - this author will determine eligibility for an open access publishing agreement.
- The nominated corresponding author must use their University of Melbourne affiliation and email address upon initial submission to be recognised as eligible for having the Article Processing Charge (APC) waived. This eligibility will be confirmed in the submission system.
- Wiley/Hindawi then sends a funding request to CAUL, who will quickly approve coverage of the APC for eligible authors.
- Coverage of the article's open access APC will be confirmed by email, usually within two business days of submission.
- Article review proceeds as usual.
Further information: CAUL R&P Guide; Wiley - Open Access for Authors in Australia and New Zealand.
Open access initiatives supported by the University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is actively pursuing opportunities to fund open access initiatives beyond the Read and Publish agreements discussed above. These include Subscribe to Open (S2O) and supporting memberships with open access publishers that do not have author-facing publishing charges. Some of the initiatives we are currently supporting are detailed below.
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Annual Reviews
Type: Subscribe to Open
Coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for all authors across a growing number of Annual Reviews journals.
From the Annual Reviews, 30 June 2023 update: "Nonprofit scientific publisher Annual Reviews has converted more than half of all its 2023 journal volumes to open access using Subscribe to Open (S2O) with conversion of its remaining journal volumes anticipated by the end of the year. The move to open access has resulted in a two- to three-fold increase in downloads."
Start date: 2020-2023 (dependent on the journal).
End date: Ongoing.
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY).
Further information: Annual Reviews - Subscribe to Open; Annual Reviews - Volumes published open access in 2023.
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arXiv
Type: Community membership.
Description: arXiv is one of the world's largest preprint servers and open access research-sharing platforms. It is now host to over 2 million papers across its eight disciplines (aspects of STEM and economics). As a nonprofit, arXiv relies on donations and memberships from universities, libraries, and research institutes.
End Date: Ongoing.
Further information: arXiv.org; arXiv - About Membership; arXiv - Our Members.
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Berghahn
Type: Subscribe to Open
Coverage: Under the Berghahn Open Anthro program, this agreement covers unlimited OA publishing for all authors across Berghahn’s 14 anthropology journals.
Start date: 2021-2022 (dependent on journal).
End date: Ongoing.
Licence: Author’s choice of CC BY, CC BY-ND, or CC BY-NC-ND.
Further information: Berghahn Open Anthro.
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DOAB (Directory of Open Access Books)
Type: Collective funding.
Description: The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) is an independent directory of peer-reviewed open access books. Its primary goal is to maximise the discoverability of open access books, thereby increasing their impact. Metadata from DOAB is harvested and used by libraries around the world, including the University of Melbourne Library. The directory is run by the DOAB Foundation, a nonprofit organisation co-owned by the OAPEN Foundation and OpenEdition.
Funding: The University of Melbourne contributes to the DOAB via the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS).
Period: 2020-2023 (SCOSS second funding cycle; joint funding with OAPEN).
Further information: SCOSS - Funding Calls; SCOSS - Who Has Funded.
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Dryad
Type: Collective funding.
Description: Dryad is a community-run nonprofit organisation committed to the open sharing and reuse of research data. The Dryad data repository was first launched in 2008 and now hosts over 54,000 data publications. The contributions of member institutions, funders, societies, and publishers allow them to keep data publishing fees to a minimum.
Funding: The University of Melbourne contributes to Dryad via the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS).
Period: 2022-2025 (SCOSS fourth funding cycle).
Further information: Dryad - Our Members; SCOSS - Funding Calls; SCOSS - Who Has Funded.
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Knowledge Unlatched
Type: Collective procurement.
Description: Knowledge Unlatched aims to make more scholarly content, including academic books, open access. Libraries contribute to centralised funds that are used to cover the open access fees of selected publications of interest, or invested in open access infrastructure.
Supported collections: Language Science Press 2021-2023; KU Select Journals 2021-2023; Berghahn Migration and Development Studies 2022-2023.
Further information: Knowledge Unlatched website.
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MIT Press
Type: Direct to Open.
Coverage: Open access publishing for new MIT Press scholarly monographs and edited collections, at no cost to authors. See the website below for details.
Start date: 2021.
End date: Ongoing.
Licence options: Creative Commons.
Further information: MIT Press Direct to Open.
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OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks)
Type: Collective funding.
Description: Open Access Publishing in European Networks (OAPEN) is focused on promoting open access book publishing, hosting, and discovery. It is operated by the OAPEN Foundation, a nonprofit organisation based in the Netherlands. OAPEN operates three platforms:
- OAPEN Library - a repository for hosting and disseminating open access books;
- OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit - a toolkit for authors; and,
- The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) - an index of open access books (run in partnership with OpenEdition).
Funding: The University of Melbourne contributes to OAPEN via the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS).
Period: 2020-2023 (SCOSS second funding cycle; joint funding with DOAB).
Further information: SCOSS - Funding Calls; SCOSS - Who Has Funded.
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Open Book Publishers
Type: Library membership.
Description: Founded in 2008, Open Book Publishers is an independent and fully open access publisher of peer-reviewed scholarly monographs, edited collections, textbooks, and more. They are a nonprofit Social Enterprise and Community Interest Company (CIC) based in the UK. Their operations rely on several revenue streams, primarily library memberships, grants and donations, and sales (print copies of books also available open access). They do not levy open access Book Processing Charges (BPCs) to authors, who retain full copyright of their work.
End Date: Ongoing.
Further information: Open Book Publishers' Library Membership Programme; Open Book Publishers - Current Members.
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PKP (Public Knowledge Project)
Type: Collective funding.
Description: Public Knowledge Project (PKP) develops free, open-source software to support open access scholarly publishing. They are best known for Open Journal Systems (OJS), which is used by many independent open access journals, including Melbourne Law School's Statelessness & Citizenship Review. PKP also develops Open Monograph Press (OMP) and Open Preprint Systems (OPS), and offers training and support for all of their platforms. PKP is an initiative of Simon Fraser University in Canada.
Funding: The University of Melbourne contributes to PKP via the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS).
Period: 2020-2023 (SCOSS second funding cycle).
Further information: SCOSS - Funding Calls; SCOSS - Who Has Funded.
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Practical Action Publishing
Type: Subscribe to Open
Coverage: Unlimited open access publishing for all authors in three journals:
- Enterprise Development & Microfinance
- Food Chain
- Waterlines
Start date: 2022.
End date: Ongoing.
Licence options: CC BY-NC-ND.
Further information: Practical Action Publishing – Subscribe to Open.
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ROR (Research Organization Registry)
Type: Collective funding.
Description: The Research Organization Registry (ROR) is a community-led and openly accessible registry of persistent identifiers for research organisations. It helps researchers, institutions, and publishers disambiguate institution names and properly affiliate research outputs - like ORCID for institutions. ROR data is all openly licensed under the CC0 Public Domain dedication. The registry is a collaborative initiative of California Digital Library, Crossref, and DataCite. The University of Melbourne's ROR is 01ej9dk98.
Funding: The University of Melbourne contributes to ROR via the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS).
Period: 2022-2025 (SCOSS fourth funding cycle).
Further information: SCOSS - Funding Calls; SCOSS - Who Has Funded.
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SCOAP3 (Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics)
Type: Consortium membership.
Description: Coordinated by CERN, SCOAP3 - the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics - brings together research centres and funders from 45 countries to fund open access publishing in the field of high-energy physics. They focus on converting key journals in the field to open access, funding associated costs so authors do not face Article Processing Charges (APCs). Articles funded by SCOAP3 are also shared via the SCOAP3 Repository. SCOAP3 recently expanded their coverage to include open access Book Processing Charges (BPCs) of selected monographs and textbooks.
End Date: Ongoing.
Further information: SCOAP3; SCOAP3 Repository; SCOAP3 Partners.
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SCOSS (Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services)
Type: Collective funding.
Description: Formed in 2017, the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS) brings institutions and organisations together to support open access and open science infrastructure. The University of Melbourne has pledged to a range of SCOSS infrastructure funding cycles, as detailed below.
Infrastructure funded by the University of Melbourne:
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) (Pilot funding cycle, 2018-2020)
- Sherpa Romeo (Pilot funding cycle, 2018-2020)
- Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) & Open Access Publishing in European Networks (OAPEN) (Second funding cycle, 2020-2023)
- Public Knowledge Project (PKP) (Second funding cycle, 2020-2023)
- Research Organization Registry (ROR) (Fourth funding cycle, 2022-2025)
- Dryad (Fourth funding cycle, 2022-2025)
Further information: SCOSS - Funding Calls; SCOSS - Who Has Funded.
Discounts on open access publishing fees
The University of Melbourne also has arrangements with several publishers that allow affiliated corresponding authors to receive discounts on open access publishing fees. Some agreements cover Article Processing Charges (APCs), Book Processing Charges (BPCs), and Chapter Processing Charges (CPCs). Conditions and limits apply, as described below.
View the 2023 list of journals with APC discounts (Excel 365)
Spreadsheet last updated: 31 July 2023. University of Melbourne access only.
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American Chemical Society
Discount: USD250.
Status: Active.
Journal coverage: Open access publishing in ACS's hybrid journals only. Open access (gold) journals are not covered.
Summary: The University's subscription to ACS journals entitles University of Melbourne authors to discounted APCs. Individual members of the ACS are entitled to a further discount under the ACS Author Rewards program.
How to use: Corresponding authors should affiliate with the University of Melbourne and use their unimelb.edu.au email address to be recognised as eligible for this discount.
Further information: ACS Open Science - Pricing (see "Member at Subscribing Institution Pricing" for "Open Access in Transformative Journals").
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BMC (BioMed Central)
Discount: 15%.
Status: Active.
Journal coverage: All BMC journals.
Eligible article types: All research articles.
Summary: The University has a BMC Supporter Membership. This means that corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Melbourne can receive a 15% discount on the APCs of all research articles accepted for publication in BMC journals.
How to use: Corresponding authors should affiliate with the University of Melbourne and use their unimelb.edu.au email address to be recognised as eligible for this discount.
Further information: BioMed Central Institutional Support information.
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De Gruyter
Discount: 20%.
Status: Active.
Journal coverage: Eligible fully open access journals only. View a list of open access journals eligible for this discount (Excel spreadsheet).
Summary: The University's Read and Publish agreement with De Gruyter waives APCs for select hybrid journals only (see above). However, corresponding authors can receive a 20% APC discount for publishing in eligible De Gruyter fully open access (gold) journals.
How to use: Corresponding authors must affiliate with the University of Melbourne and use their unimelb.edu.au email address to be eligible for this discount.
Further information: De Gruyter’s submission processes.
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Elsevier
Discount: 15%.
Status: Active from 1 January 2023 (for articles accepted from this date).
Journal coverage: Elsevier's core hybrid and open access (gold) titles, including open access Lancet and Cell Press titles. Elsevier's included and excluded journals list (CAUL Airtable) indicates which titles are eligible for the 15% APC discount (see the "Explanation if not included" column).
Summary: The University's Read and Publish agreement with Elsevier waives APCs for select hybrid journals only (see above). Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Melbourne are eligible for a 15% discount on APCs in Elsevier’s core hybrid and open access (gold) journal portfolios, including open access Lancet and Cell Press journals. The discount is off each journal’s APC list price.
Licence options: CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND.
How to use: Corresponding authors must affiliate with the University of Melbourne and use their unimelb.edu.au email address to be eligible for this discount.
Further information: Elsevier’s APC list prices.
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ICE Publishing (Institution of Civil Engineers)
Discount: 15%.
Status: Active.
Journal coverage: All ICE Publishing journals.
Summary: Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Melbourne are eligible for a 15% discount on APCs in ICE Publishing journals. The discount is automatically applied to the APCs upon acceptance of an article where the corresponding author uses their institution’s email domain.
How to use: Corresponding authors should affiliate with the University of Melbourne and use their unimelb.edu.au email address to be recognised as eligible for this discount.
Further information: Open access at ICE Publishing.
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Royal Society of Chemistry
Discount: 15%.
Status: Active.
Journal coverage: RSC's hybrid journals only.
Summary: The RSC offers University of Melbourne corresponding authors a 15% discount on APCs for their hybrid journals. Fully open access journals are not eligible. The discount is automatically applied to the APC upon acceptance of an article where the corresponding author uses their University of Melbourne email address.
How to use: Corresponding authors should affiliate with the University of Melbourne and use their unimelb.edu.au email address to be recognised as eligible for this discount.
Further information: Royal Society of Chemistry – Gold open access.
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SAGE Publishing
Discount: 20%.
Status: Active from 1 January 2023 (for articles accepted from this date).
Journal coverage: SAGE Publishing's open access journals. See the publisher's Gold Open Access Journal title list (Excel download).
Summary: The University's Read and Publish agreement with SAGE waives APCs for select hybrid journals (see above). When publishing in SAGE's Gold open access journals, University of Melbourne corresponding authors are eligible for a 20% APC discount.
How to use: Corresponding authors must affiliate with the University of Melbourne and use their unimelb.edu.au email address to be eligible for this discount.
Further information: SAGE Publishing - Pure Gold Open Access Journals; SAGE Publishing - Australia & New Zealand (CAUL).
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SpringerOpen
Discount: 15%.
Status: Active.
Coverage: All SpringerOpen journals and books.
Summary: SpringerOpen includes Springer’s portfolio of peer-reviewed fully open access journals and books across all areas of science. Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Melbourne can receive a 15% discount on journal APCs and book publication fees.
How to use: Corresponding authors should affiliate with the University of Melbourne and use their unimelb.edu.au email address to be recognised as eligible for this discount.
Further information: SpringerOpen Institutional Membership information.
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Taylor & Francis
Discount: 10%.
Status: Active from 1 January 2023 (for articles accepted from this date).
Journal coverage: Taylor & Francis journals excluded from the Read and Publish agreement (see above). Our T&F included and excluded journals list (.xlsx download) indicates titles eligible for the 10% APC discount.
Summary: The University's Read and Publish agreement with Taylor & Francis waives APCs for select hybrid journals only (see above). Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Melbourne are eligible for a 10% discount on APCs in journals not covered by the agreement, where open access publishing is possible.
How to use: Corresponding authors must affiliate with the University of Melbourne and use their unimelb.edu.au email address to be eligible for this discount.
Further information: Taylor & Francis Open Access Cost Finder.
The discounts above include both open access and hybrid journals. Note that the University of Melbourne discourages the payment of APCs to hybrid journals. Alternative open access pathways are preferred, including repository open access and the open access publishing options detailed above (open access journals, institutional open access publishing agreements, and open access initiatives such as Subscribe to Open).
Video and FAQ
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VIDEO: 2023 Open Access Publishing Agreements
In this recording from March 2023, Dr Zachary Kendal from the Scholarly Communications team explores the University's 2023 open access publishing agreements. He covers what agreements are in place, their eligibility requirements and limitations, and how researchers can use them to publish open access without Article Processing Charges (APCs). He also looks at some of the benefits of open access and the diverse range of open access pathways available, including through the University's institutional repository, Minerva Access.
A series of short videos introducing open access, including publisher and repository pathways, can be found on our "What is Open Access?" page.
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How do I acknowledge the use of an open access publishing agreement?
Our open access publishing agreements do not require authors to acknowledge their use of an agreement when publishing open access.
Nonetheless, authors may wish to acknowledge their use of an agreement for an APC waiver, as this offers transparency around costs. The below statement can be used or adapted to suit an acknowledgment or funding statement:
Open access costs have been covered under an open access publishing agreement between the University of Melbourne and [publisher].
For the CAUL-negotiated Read and Publish agreements, the following text might be preferred:
Open access costs have been covered under a Read and Publish agreement between the University of Melbourne and [publisher], facilitated by the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL).
Note that some publishers have their own templates for acknowledging APC waivers under open access publishing agreements that may be used in some cases.
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Why don’t we have an agreement with a specific publisher?
The journals covered by each of our open access publishing agreements are usually determined through negotiation – in most cases, between the publisher and the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) – and are unlikely to change within the term of the agreement.
Some open access publishing agreements, such as the agreement with Springer Nature, only cover certain imprints. Others, such as the Elsevier and Taylor & Francis agreements, cover only the most highly use titles. Publishers may also exclude prestigeous titles that levy high Article Processing Charges (APCs), as is the case with the exclusion of Nature research journals from the Springer Nature agreement, and the exclusion of Lancet journals from the Elsevier agreement.
Even some agreements that cover almost all of a publisher’s portfolio (including hybrid and open access titles) may have some exclusions. These are usually society-linked journals that do not yet offer open access publishing as an option. For example, our agreement with Cambridge University Press covers almost all of the publisher’s over 400 titles, except for several society journals that do not yet support open access publishing.
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Why don’t our open access publishing agreements cover a specific journal?
Read and Publish agreements are currently being negotiated by the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL).
CAUL has been focusing in the first instance on the large publishers that Australian researchers publish with most often, and with which libraries already have subscriptions. In some cases, CAUL has been approached by smaller publishers offering Read and Publish agreements and have been able to negotiate these as well.
With agreements now in place with most of the major cross-discipline publishers of subscription journals, negotiations with further mid-size and smaller publishers, including discipline-specific publishers, are in progress.
We cannot predict when new agreements may be reached, so we would strongly discourage researchers from delaying publication in the hope that any specific publishers (or journals) will be covered in the near future.
Note that not all scholarly journal publishers have adopted this agreement model for open access, although they are becoming more widespread each year. Furthermore, this kind of agreement model is not currently available for other types of scholarly publishing, such as open access book publishing. The University is exploring, and supporting, open access initiatives that would cover these gaps when possible (see "Open Access Initiatives" above).
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My publisher says coverage of open access fees must be approved by my institution/CAUL. If they’re not covered, am I stuck with an invoice to pay?
For eligible articles in covered titles, approval is usually either automatic or granted within one or two business days. For capped agreements, this is on a first come, first served basis. When approving coverage, the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) and the University only consider whether the corresponding author is affiliated with the University of Melbourne.
Rejection of coverage on the CAUL or University end is very rare and only occurs if the corresponding author’s affiliation cannot be verified. This may be because the author did not affiliate with the University of Melbourne and/or did not use a unimelb.edu.au or student.unimelb.edu.au email address.
Should coverage be rejected, your publisher may send you an invoice, but at this point you can contact the publisher and request subscription/paywalled publishing instead of open access. Note that some publishers require this to be done within a specified period – for example, within two weeks of receiving the invoice, in the case of Elsevier. If you encounter any problems, please contact your discipline's liaison librarians.
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Are students and recent graduates covered by the agreements?
All University of Melbourne students and recent graduates are eligible to use our open access publishing agreements when publishing research conducted in their student capacity. This includes graduate researchers publishing articles derived from their recently completed theses.
Students and recent graduates must remember to affiliate with the University of Melbourne in their article and should use their unimelb email address whenever possible. If a non-unimelb email address is used, coverage is usually still possible, but may be delayed as affiliation is verified, or may require follow-up with the publisher.
If you are a student or recent graduate and encounter any problems using our open access publishing agreements, please contact your discipline's liaison librarians.
Enquiries
For enquiries relating to open access publishing, please email your discipline's liaison librarians, or arrange a time to consult a librarian.
Alternatively, you can contact the library with any questions, feedback and suggestions please complete our Library Enquiries form below:
Page last updated 21 September 2023.
Read and Publish (R&P) agreement
Contracts entered into by institutions and publishers wherein institutions pay for both read access to specified subscription journals and for affiliated academics to publish open access in those journals. The publishing component may be uncapped (unlimited) or capped (limited) and may cover only a select titles list from the publisher. In many cases, the agreements only cover select hybrid journals, with APCs still being levied for open access journals. These agreements are sometimes called transformative agreements when they aim to transform the publisher’s underlying business model to make their journals fully open access.
Most of the R&P agreements in place at the University of Melbourne were negotiated by the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) and have also been adopted by other Australian universities. All of the University’s current R&P agreements are detailed on our Open Access Publishing page.
Subscribe to Open (S2O)
A publishing model wherein a journal or publisher makes the coming year’s content open access at no cost to authors, if their annual subscription target is reached.
Although more common with journals and journal publishers, the model has also been adopted by some book publishers, as in the case of MIT Press’s Direct to Open (D2O) program. Participating institutions receive access to the publisher’s backlist/archives and, if revenue targets are met, the coming year’s monographs and edited volumes are published open access at no cost to authors.
Some of the S2O initiatives currently being supported by the University of Melbourne are described on our Open Access Publishing page
Institutional open access publishing agreements
A contract entered into by an institution and a publisher that allows affiliated authors (usually affiliated corresponding authors only) to publish open access without facing Article Processing Charges (APCs), Book Processing Charges (BPCs), or Chapter Processing Charges (CPCs).
The most common kind of institutional open access publishing agreement today is the Read and Publish agreement with hybrid publishers. However, agreements with fully open access publishers can also be negotiated.
The University of Melbourne's current open access publishing agreements are detailed on the Open Access Publishing page.
Creative Commons licences
Open licences that have become best practice in open access publishing. They are built using a combination of elements: BY (Attribution), SA (Share-Alike), NC (Non-Commercial), and ND (No Derivatives). All licences are detailed on the Creative Commons website.
The most open of the licences is the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence. This licence allows authors to retain their copyright while granting others permission to distribute, use, adapt, remix, and build upon the material, so long as attribution is given to the creator. This is the preferred, and sometimes required, licence of the Australian Research Council (ARC) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), as well as many international research funders.
The most restrictive is the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence. This licence does not allow for any commercial uses or the creation and sharing of any adaptations or derivative versions. It greatly restricts how others can use the work and, when adopted as part of an exclusive licence to publish with a publisher, can result in a significant loss of author rights.
Hybrid journals and publishers
A hybrid journal charges a fee (an Article Processing Charge, or APC) to publish a journal article open access in an otherwise subscription journal. The journal is hybrid because it contains both open access and paywalled content. The APCs levied by hybrid journals are, on average, higher than those levied by open access journals.
Similarly, hybrid book publishers levy a Book Processing Charge (BPC) or Chapter Processing Charge (CPC) to make the book or one or more chapters open access, when they would otherwise be paywalled.
Article Processing Charge (APC)
Fees levied by a journal for publishing an article open access. They are sometimes charged by open access journals and may be their only source of income. Hybrid journals always charge APCs for an article to be available open access, this is an additional income source to subscriptions.
APCs may be paid by an author, their institution, or a funding body. These charges may be waived if an institutional open access publishing agreement is active.
Article Processing Charge (APC)
Fees levied by a journal for publishing an article open access. They are sometimes charged by open access journals and may be their only source of income. Hybrid journals always charge APCs for an article to be available open access, this is an additional income source to subscriptions.
APCs may be paid by an author, their institution, or a funding body. These charges may be waived if an institutional open access publishing agreement is active.
Book Processing Charge (BPC) / Chapter Processing Charge (CPC)
Fees levied by a book publisher for publishing a book or individual book chapter open access. Most major academic book publishers will publish open access for a BPC or CPC. Some open access book publishers do not levy BPCs or CPCs, instead being supported by institutions, organisations, or grants. BPCs, and CPCs may be paid by an author, their institution, or a funding body.