Funding for open access publishing
Open access publishing fees
We support open access publishing through agreements with publishers, which can cover either the full cost of publication or a percentage of it. We also offer support via the Open Access Publishing Fund, sometimes called the APC fund.
Publishers usually charge authors to publish their research via the Gold Open Access option. This is often an article processing charge (APC) but can also be a book processing charge (BPC), for open access publishing in monographs, edited books, and book chapters.
Currently, we only have deals in place for APCs. You can see details of all our agreements and discounts further down the page.
There are currently limited options to support BPCs and costs can be considerably higher than when publishing articles. We continue looking for initiatives and agreements to support our researchers as they emerge.
Scifree
Open access publishing agreements and discounts
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American Chemical Society journals (ACS)
Read and Publish agreement
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in all research articles in all ACS journals, including ACS Omega, JACS Au, the ACS Au collection, and all ACS hybrid journals.
https://acsopenscience.org/how-to-publish-open-access/
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends December 2024
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American Physiological Society (APS)
Read, Publish and Join Agreement
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in the Society’s twelve hybrid journals. Includes a one-year membership to APS for corresponding authors at participating institutions (new members only).
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends December 2024
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American Psychological Association (APA)
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in 87 APA-published hybrid journals in the PsycArticles portfolio and 25 hybrid Hogrefe titles.
The deal also provides a 25% APC discount in three fully OA Hogrefe journals.
A maximum article cap is set at 531 articles. Should we exceed 531, a discount of 30 per cent only can be applied to the APC cost.
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/resources/authors-resources
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends July 2024
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BMJ
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish Open Access in 57 hybrid, transformative and fully Open Access journals on the BMJ platform.
How to apply: Via publisher website – no need to apply to the APC fund.
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Cambridge University Press
Read and Publish agreement
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in the majority of CUP journals. See Cambridge University Press’s Open Access waivers and discounts tool to check if a journal is included.
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends December 2024
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Company of Biologists
Read and Publish Agreement
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in the Society’s three hybrid journals:
- Development
- Journal of Cell Science
- Journal of Experimental Biology
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends December 2024
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Elsevier
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in hybrid Core, Cell Press and the Lancet journals. To check if a journal is included in the agreement, please use Elsevier’s participating journal search: https://agreements.journals.elsevier.com/jisc
Note:It also provides a 15% discount on APCs for Open Access publishing in fully Open Access Elsevier journals.
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends December 2024
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Frontiers
Discount Agreement
Manchester Met corresponding authors are eligible for a 10% on APC list prices
How to apply: Via publisher website – if you need funding for the remaining APC, use the APC application form
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MDPI
Discount Agreement
Manchester Met corresponding authors are eligible for a 20% discount on APC list prices.
Note: Only available to authors who don’t have a discount from another source (reviewer vouchers, society membership etc.)
How to apply: Via publisher website – if you need funding for the remaining APC, use the APC application form
Ends December 2024
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Microbiology Society
Publish and Read Agreement
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in the Society’s following journals:
- International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
- Journal of General Virology
- Journal of Medical Microbiology
- Microbiology
- Microbial Genomics (OA)
- Access Microbiology (OA)
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends December 2024
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PLOS
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in the following PLOS journals without incurring an APC:
- PLOS Complex Systems
- PLOS Computational Biology
- PLOS Digital Health
- PLOS Genetics
- PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
- PLOS ONE
- PLOS Pathogens
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in the following PLOS journals without incurring an APC:
- PLOS Climate
- PLOS Global Public Health
- PLOS Mental Health
- PLOS Water
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in the following PLOS journals without incurring an APC:
- PLOS Medicine
- PLOS Biology
- PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends December 2024
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Royal Society
OA Membership Discount Agreement
Manchester Met authors receive a 25% discount on the listed APC price when publishing in all Royal Society journals.
https://royalsociety.org/journals/open-access/
How to apply: Via publisher website – if you need funding for the remaining APC, use the APC application form
This is a trial membership agreement, which will run from 31 December 2022 to 31 December 2023.
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Royal Society of Chemistry
Manchester Metropolitan corresponding authors can publish open access in all RSC hybrid journals.
Note: this does not cover fully Open Access journals.
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
End December 2024
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Sage
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in Sage’s hybrid journals in their SAGE Choice program.
Note: This agreement entitles our author to a 20% discount on APCs for fully Open Access Sage journals.
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends December 2024
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Springer
Read and Publish Agreement
Manchester Metropolitan corresponding authors can publish open access in more than 2000 Springer, Palgrave and Nature hybrid journals.
Article processing charges for fully open access journals (e.g. BMC, Springer Open and NPJ) are NOT included in the agreement, but it does include a 20 percent discount on the APC. Apply to the APC fund for support paying the remainder of the cost.
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ends December 2025
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Taylor and Francis
Manchester Met corresponding authors can publish open access in Taylor & Francis hybrid Open Select journals.
How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
Ended December 2023, new agreement pending, continue to submit articles
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Wiley
Open Access publishing costs are now covered for all Manchester Met corresponding authors for 2024. This includes all Wiley hybrid and fully Open Access journals and 240 fully Open Access Hindawi journals.
This is until Wiley’s national Open Access fund is depleted.
Please check back here if publishing later in the year, or email openresearch@mmu.ac.uk, to check if your article will be eligible.
Open Access Publishing Fund (OAPF)
You can also apply for funding from the University Open Access Publishing Fund, using the Open Access Publishing Fund application form when:
- You are applying for funding towards an APC or BPC and either:
- We do not have a deal in place with your publisher
- The relevant deal only covers a percentage of the cost, and you want to request support to pay the remaining cost.
Before applying for funding, check to see whether we have an open access publishing agreement or discount with the publisher.
The Open Access Publishing Fund is limited, and you will need to have approval from your Faculty Director of Research unless you are publishing a UKRI-funded article, in which case your application will be automatically approved. Read the Open Access Publishing Fund application form for further details on approval criteria.
To apply for funding:
- Discuss publication options with your Faculty Director of Research or Research Centre Head, unless UKRI-funded.
- When support has been agreed, fill in the Open Access Publishing Fund application form.
- Send a copy of your manuscript to openresearch@mmu.ac.uk letting us know in the email that you have submitted an application form
- We will seek formal confirmation from your Faculty Director of Research unless you’re applying for a UKRI-funded article.
- Once approved we will process the payment
APC or BPC using other funding
If you decide to pay for an APC or BPC using other Manchester Met funds, please use the SAP code for APCs, which can be used with any cost centre: GL Code 751070 Article Processing Charges (APC).
We can then track any APC or BPC payments through our finance systems for reporting purposes.