Library Guides @ VIU: The Right Place to Publish: Considerations in Choosing a Journal or Publisher: APCs: Information & Discounts

Article Processing Charges (APCs) are applied by some publishers to fund immediate Open Access where this is desired by the author/s or required by a funder. This model introduces flexibility for those who can afford it. However, because in the APC model authors must "pay to play" there may be concerns about equity of access to means of publication, particularly for early career or unaffiliated researchers, and those from developing countries or marginalized communities.

Also, some publishers offer hybrid journals, which include articles that are Open Access by APC within otherwise subscription journals. In these cases universities and libraries may pay more than once for access to the same content; although APCs are paid, a subscription may have to be maintained because only selected articles within a hybrid journal are made Open Access through APC.

In summary, APCs can be an expedient mechanism in scholarly communication but are best used with a critical awareness of issues and alternatives. Some strategies and measures seek to mitigate issues related to APCs:

Some journals offer a discount or waiver based on author employment or other status. See for example IEEE: Can my APC be discounted or waived?
- If you work with partners in lower income countries, it may be helpful to know of the list: Open access publishing: options for reduced or waived publication charges maintained by Research4Life.
Funders, including the Tri-agencies, may acknowledge APCs as a cost of research dissemination and consider them eligible for funding within grant applications, particularly where Open Access to outcomes of the research is an expectation.
Look into internal grant supports related to publishing, such as the Publish Grants through SRCA.
SFU Library offers useful template language for including APC costs in grant proposals.
Librarians are very happy to help look into high-quality, APC-free Open Access journals.
Contact us for more information.

In the following cases the Library has a negotiated Open Access or APC discounts for University-affiliated authors as part of a content license with a given publisher:

CRKN Open Access Agreements & Negotiated APC Discounts
ACS Publications (American Chemical Society)
VIU-affiliated authors are eligible to receive a 250 USD discount on the article processing charge (APC) for all ACS hybrid journals. The APC discount is applied upon acceptance of manuscript. Authors must indicate their institutional affiliation upon submitting of their manuscript in order to benefit from the discount.
Cambridge University Press, 2022-2024.
VIU-affiliated authors can publish an unlimited number of their articles as open access in CUP hybrid and gold journals at no charge to the author for the duration of the agreement. See also this Step by Step Guide to Publishing Open Access in Cambridge Journals. And don't hesitate to contact us for more information
Canadian Science Publishing
VIU-affiliated authors are eligible to receive a 25% discount on the article processing charge (APC) for all CSP Hybrid journals. Authors must indicate their institutional affiliation upon submitting of their manuscript in order to benefit from the discount.
Elsevier
VIU-affiliated corresponding authors (authors affiliated with participating CRKN member institutions) will be eligible for unlimited open access publishing in over 1,800 Elsevier Hybrid journals with no Article Processing Charge (APC), including in 165 Core Hybrid Specialty titles that are new to the CRKN agreement. Additionally, as a measure to ensure the ongoing eligibility of journals, any titles that convert from Hybrid to Fully Gold OA within the term of the agreement will remain eligible for the full APC waiver.
Corresponding Authors affiliated with an institution participating in the CRKN agreement are also eligible to receive a 20% discount on the article processing charge (APC) for most Elsevier Gold Open Access journals.
Authors must indicate their institutional affiliation upon submitting their manuscript in order to benefit from the waiver/discount. Please review the author workflow at the linked page.
Several journals are excluded from the APC waiver, such as Cell Press, Lancet, and some other society owned journals.
Please click through to review the author workflow, included and excluded titles, and other details.
Authors should be given the choice of license – CC BY or CC BY NC ND.
Oxford
VIU-affiliated corresponding authors may publish their articles as open access in Oxford University Press’ (OUP) hybrid journals for the duration of the agreement (2024-2026). No article processing charges (APC) fees will be levied for open access publication. Articles accepted for publication in OUP’s gold journals are not eligible under this agreement; however, authors will receive a 10% discount on APCs for articles accepted articles in these journals.
SAGE - Open Access Waivers & APC Discounts
VIU-affiliated authors may publish their articles as open access in over 900 SAGE Choice journals with APCs completely waived. Authors may also use a 40% APC discount to publish in SAGE’s gold open access journals.
SAGE Open Access Portal (SOAP): CRKN Information

Taylor & Francis: CRKN discount in T&F and Routledge Open Select (hybrid) journals
Standard discount is 25%
VIU-affiliated authors should select the Open Access Publishing option when submitting an article. When the APC quote is generated, authors should select VIU from the drop-down menu. The APC discount will be automatically applied. Authors can select a Creative Commons license once they have accepted the APC quote.
Wiley Open Access Agreement 2023-2024
VIU authors can publish an unlimited number of their articles as open access in all Wiley’s hybrid journals for the duration of the agreement (2023-2024). No article processing charges (APC) fees will be levied for open access publication.
Articles accepted for publication in Wiley’s gold journals are not eligible under this agreement. Authors will continue to be charged APCs for accepted articles in these journals.

VIU Library is an institutional supporter of Open Book Publishers

Open Book Publishers This link opens in a new window
OBP is an independent open access academic press that publishes peer-reviewed, monographs, edited collections, textbooks, critical translations and more. Open Book Publishers welcome submissions from any field, with a particular focus on the Humanities and Social Sciences. Works may be shorter or longer than the ‘standard’ 80,000 words, and may be innovative in terms of format.
Works are open access, and also logged in student, faculty, and staff users of the library will be able to download for free, and keep, formatted digital editions (pdf, XML). Additional formats (epub) and print editions are available for purchase.
OBP does not charge authors to publish and authors retain full copyright.