Open Access agreements

The publishers listed below offer a full or partial discount on Open Access publication fees to authors affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI, or WSL. Some of these discounts are obtained through national read and publish agreements, some are negotiated into institutional licenses with the publisher, and some are offered by the publisher in exchange for subscriptions. When publishing in these journals Eawag, Empa, WSL, and PSI affiliated authors are entitled to significant discounts or don't have to pay an Open Access fee at all.

Eligibility criteria

Authors wishing to publish their article Open Access under the agreements must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • Corresponding author affiliation: Eligibility is tied to the article's corresponding author. The affiliation details in the article and in the publisher’s manuscript submission system must clearly indicate the author's (primary) affiliation to Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL. Corresponding authors should use their institutional email address when submitting an article. If a researcher leaves Eawag/Empa/PSI/WSL but publishes with an Eawag/Empa/PSI/WSL affiliation, the author is generally eligible for funding.
  • Eligible journals: The journal you wish to publish in must be on the list of eligible titles under an agreement. Not all journals are included in the agreements. Refer to the summary for each Open Access agreement below; see section Eligible Journals. Alternatively, use the Lib4RI Search Tool to find out if a journal is eligible for free Open Access.
  • Article types: Not all article types are included in the agreements, e.g. several agreements exclude editorial material. See the section Eligible Article Types in the agreement summaries below to learn about the eligible article types.
  • Article quotas: Article quotas refer to the maximum number of articles that can be accepted under an agreement in a calendar year. The article quota is drawn down over the year on a first come, first served basis across all participating institutions in Switzerland. For each agreement you will find information if an article quota applies and when the limit is predicted to be reached.
  • SNSF funding: The agreement with ACS excludes all articles that acknowledge funding by the SNSF. If the authors still select Open Access for their articles, an APC of 3000 USD will be invoiced to authors.

Please note that neither the library nor Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL wish to influence authors’ decisions on where to publish, and the list below is not an endorsement of any particular publisher.

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Full APC funding
Discounts on APCs
Other funding options

Full APC funding

full_apc_funding

  • General information

    • Corresponding authors affiliated to Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL can publish Open Access free of charge in all ACS journals (pure and hybrid OA journals).
    • Be aware of special regulations for articles that acknowledge funding by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
    • Authors at Swiss institutions reporting on SNSF funded research can publish for free in pure Open Access journals. The fees are paid by the SNSF via an agreement with ACS. Articles in hybrid journals that acknowledge funding by the SNSF are excluded! Fees for Open Access in hybrid journals of SNSF funded articles will be charged to authors (at a discounted fee of USD 3000). The SNSF encourages researchers to publish closed access in hybrid journals and employ the Rights Retention Strategy to achieve immediate Open Access for these publications.
    • Please note that charges for additional options (color-in-print, posters etc.) are not covered by this agreement.
    • All Open Access articles will be published under a CC BY 4.0 license. 

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • All types of journal articles that undergo peer review are eligible for free OA.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2023 and 31.12.2025.

    Quota

    • The number of articles that can be made Open Access each year without additional payment is restricted at a national level: 2023: 138 articles; 2024: 180 articles; 2025: 216 articles.
    • If in any year the maximum number of articles is exceeded, the OA invoice will be directly sent to the corresponding author.
    • If the annual quota is exhausted, it will be announced here.

    Author actions

    • During submission via ACS Paragon Plus, as a corresponding author, select your institution from a drop-down box and use your institutional email address. Eligibility for free Open Access is based on the institution specified under your primary address in ACS Paragon Plus. This is especially relevant for corresponding authors with multiple affiliations.
    • Once your article is accepted, you will receive an email to complete the Journal Publishing Agreement (JPA). After selecting “Yes, I wish to publish open access as per the agreement.” you still need to order Open Access via the Copyright Clearance Center platform.
    • Detailed instructions on the workflow for authors are available on the ACS website. 

  • General information

    • The agreement enables corresponding authors affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL to publish Open Access in all hybrid AIP journals without additional costs.

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • Eligible article types are: Brief Communication, Communication, Conference Article, Fast Track or Article-FT, Letter, Note, Perspective, Article, Research Update, Review, Roadmap, Tutorial.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2022 and 31.12.2025.

    Quota

    • Based on YTD approval rates, the article quota is not expected to be exceeded in 2025; this may change. If the annual quota is exhausted, it will be announced here.

    Author actions

    • Submit your paper as usual to any eligible AIP journal. Use your institutional e-mail for the submission.
    • Please make sure to choose your (main) institution (e.g. Paul Scherrer Institute) in the submission section “Author Information” as this is decisive for your acceptance as eligible author.
    • Select the option “I wish to publish open access as part of an institutional agreement” in the Section “Publication Charges and Funding”.
    • Articles will be published under the CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution License) license.
    • More information form AIP: Read & Publish Agreements
    • Step-by-step guide: Read and Publish – Guide for Authors

  • General information

    • Open Access publishing in all hybrid Physical Review journals without extra costs for the author if the corresponding author is affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL.
    • Cost coverage is only for Open Access, but not for other charges (e.g. colour charges, offprints etc.). 
    • More information at APS.

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • Eligible article types are regular articles, letters, rapid communications, reviews, perspectives and short papers.
    • Errata, editorials, comments, are not eligible article types as they are free to publish open.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 8.4.2024 and 31.12.2026.

    Quota

    • An unlimited number of articles can be published Open Access under the agreement.

    Author actions 

    • Corresponding authors need to be affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL as declared on the submission form and manuscript (in the initial instance of submission of a manuscript).
    • APS will offer free Open Access under the agreement to eligible authors based on the affiliation provided at submission.
    • Articles will be published on an Open Access CC BY 4.0 license with authors retaining copyright.

    SCOAP3

    • Publishing of high-energy physics (HEP) articles is not covered by this agreement. Open Access for these articles are covered by SCOAP3 directly.

  • General information

    • No Article Processing Charges (APCs) for corresponding or contributing authors affiliated to Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL publishing in the six hybrid Open Access journals of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).
    • Standard page charges and supplemental material fees still apply! See this overview of author fees (fees for S2O subscribers apply). Page charges and supplemental material fees are not paid by the library and will be charged to authors.
    • Open Access articles will be made available to the public under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license (CC-BY).

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • Research articles.

    Agreement period

    • 01.01.2025-31.12.2025. The publication date is the relevant date for article eligibility.

    Quota

    • No quota. All articles published by corresponding or contributing authors affiliated to Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL will be published Open Access without incurring article processing charges (APCs) for Open Access.

    Author actions

    • Identification of eligible authors is based on author’s selection of institution during submission.

    Background

    From 2025, the ASM intends to transform its six hybrid research journals to Open Access via a Subscribe to Open model (S2O), see https://journals.asm.org/s2o. Every year, ASM sets a minimum financial target to finance the six research journals. If subscriptions reach the target by January 31st, 2025, all research articles published in 2025 will be published Open Access. If this goal is not achieved, the content will only be accessible to subscribers and only the articles of authors affiliated to subscribing institutions are published Open Access.
    Unlike other S2O models, authors will continue to pay significant publication fees in the form of pages charges and and supplemental material fees.
     

  • General information

    • Lib4RI is participating in a Read and Publish Agreement with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). This provides immediate Open Access for all articles published by corresponding authors affiliated to Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL, with no additional cost to the authors. 
    • Open Access articles will be made available to the public under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license (CC-BY).
    • Other publication charges (e.g. for color illustrations in print or extra length) are not coverd by the agreement, ASME will directly invoice authors for those expenses.

    Eligible journals

    • Article Publishing Charges (APCs) are fully covered in all ASME’s hybrid (subscription-based) journals, and the pure Open Access journal ASME Open Journal of Engineering. Additionally, no costs occur for Open Access papers in ASME conference proceedings.
    • The Lib4RI Search Tool makes it easy to identify journals eligible for OA publishing without direct costs for authors.

    Eligible article types

    • All article types are eligible under this agreement.

    Agreement period

    • 1.1.2025-31.12.2025. The date of submission is the relevant date for article eligibility.

    Quota

    • An unlimited number of articles can be published Open Access under the ASME agreement.

    Author actions

    • Responsible corresponding authors must include Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL as one of their affiliations to benefit from this agreement. 
    • Responsible corresponding authors must use their institutional email address throughout the submission process. 
    • Authors will be identified as eligible for Open Access publishing by their institutional affiliation and email address.
    • Authors will be presented with the option to publish open access at acceptance.

  • General information

    • Various journals from the Annual Reviews series have been converted to Open Access since 2020. Lib4RI supports the Subscribe to Open (S2O) model of Annual Reviews. Under this model, subscription money is used to convert journals into Open Access and make publishing free of costs for all researchers. Annual Reviews plans to convert the entire journal portfolio to Open Access. 
    • Articles are published under a CC BY 4.0 license.
    • In addition to publishing all articles of the current year in eligible S2O journals Open Access, all articles until volume 1 of each journal are made freely available (but without a Creative Commons license).

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • Review articles.

    Agreement period

    • The agreement applies to all articles published from 2024 to 2026 in eligible journals.

    Author actions

    • The costs for Open Access are waived for all papers in eligible Annual Reviews journals and is not restricted to authors affiliated with a specific institution. Therefore, there is no need to prove eligibility.

    Background

    • Lib4RI is participating in the Subscribe to Open (S2O) model of Annual Reviews. Subscribe to Open (S2O) is a collaborative Open Access model that relies on subscriptions to make content Open Access without the need for author fees. The model converts subscriber-only access to Annual Reviews journals to Open Access using existing library relationships and subscription purchases. Because journal costs are sustained through S2O subscriptions, authors are not required to pay article processing charges in S2O journals. As long as S2O subscription revenues are maintained each year, journals will be published Open Access and up to five years’ historical content will be made freely available.
    • More info on the Subscribe to Open model is available on the Annual Reviews website.

  • General information

    • Corresponding authors affiliated to Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL can publish Open Access free of charge in almost all hybrid and Gold Open Access journals of Cambridge University Press (CUP).
    • CUP offers various Creative Commons licences for articles published Open Access. We recommend to select a CC BY license.

    Eligible journals

    • Almost all hybrid and Gold OA journals: List of eligible CUP journals
    • Newly launched Gold OA series "Cambridge Prisms" and "Research Directions" are excluded from the agreement.
    • The Lib4RI Search Tool makes it easy to identify journals eligible for OA publishing without direct costs for authors.

    Eligible article types

    • Research Articles, Review Articles, Rapid Communication, Brief Reports, and Case Reports.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2024 and 31.12.2026.

    Quota

    • There is no limit on the number of articles that can be published OA under the agreement.

    Author actions

  • General information

    Eligible journals

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles with first submission after September 1, 2022.

    Quota

    • There is no limit on the number of articles that can be published under the agreement.

    Author actions

    • When authors submit a manuscript, they are asked to indicate whether the corresponding author is affiliated with one of the institutions Copernicus has an agreement with. Please select
      • Eawag – Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, or
      • Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, or
      • PSI – Paul Scherrer Institute, or
      • WSL – Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research from the corresponding drop-down list.
    • Use your institutional email address when submitting a paper to Copernicus (i.e. eawag.ch, empa.ch, psi.ch, wsl.ch or slf.ch).
    • You do not need to apply for funding or inform us when submitting your article. If all requirements are fulfilled Copernicus will directly invoice the Lib4RI.

    Background

    • Lib4RI has an agreement with Copernicus regarding the central settlement of article processing charges (APCs) for researchers at Eawag, Empa, PSI and WSL. The APCs will be settled directly between Copernicus and Lib4RI.

  • From 2025, Open Access publishing in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, and other journals of ECS is covered under the agreement with IOP. See the section about the IOP agreement for further details.

     

  • General information

    • Open Access publishing in more than 2500 hybrid and full Open Access journals without extra costs.
    • Articles with a corresponding author from Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL (or any Swiss university) are eligible for a full APC discount.

    Eligible journals

    • Most Elsevier journals (including journals by the Cell Press and The Lancet) are eligible for free Open Access. Both, hybrid and pure Open Access journals are included. Some“non-eligible (society) journals” are excluded.
    • List of eligible journals (Elsevier, Cell Press, Lancet)
    • The Lib4RI Search Tool makes it easy to identify journals eligible for OA publishing without direct costs for authors.

    Eligible article types

    • Open Access without further costs is exclusively available for the following article types: case report, data, full-length article, microarticle, original software publication, practice guidelines, protocol, review article (journals), replication studies, short communication, short survey, video article.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2024 and 31.12.2028

    Quota

    • Unlimited publishing in all portfolios (Elsevier Core, Cell Press and The Lancet), both in hybrid and Gold Open Access journals.

    Author actions

    • After acceptance corresponding authors will receive an email from Elsevier asking to fill in the rights and access form.
    • Please select
      • Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology or
      • EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology or
      • Paul Scherrer Institute or
      • Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research

        as “Corresponding Author's Affiliation” and select the “Gold Open Access” option to publish your article Open Access.
    • You can choose between a CC-BY 4.0 license (recommended) and a CC-BY-NC-ND license for your article.
    • See the workflow documentation for further explanations. 

    Background

    • The agreement is a result of the negotiations led by swissuniversities with the three major academic publishers: Springer-Nature, Wiley and Elsevier. More information about the swissuniversities negotiation strategy and goals.

  • General information

    Eligible journals

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication on March 1, 2022 up to and including December 31, 2025.

    Quota

    • There is no limit on the number of articles that can be published Open Access under the agreement.

    Author actions

    • Use your institutional email address when submitting a paper to Frontiers (i.e. eawag.ch, empa.ch, psi.ch, wsl.ch or slf.ch).
    • Please select Eawag/Empa/PSI/WSL from the drop-down menu when submitting your manuscript in the section “Choose payer”.
    • Invoices for papers with corresponding authors affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL are centrally paid by Lib4RI.

    Background

    • Lib4RI holds an agreement with Frontiers since 2022. The APC costs are paid by Lib4RI.

  • General information

    • Open Access publishing in 78 hybrid full Open Access journals of IOP without extra costs.
    • Articles with a corresponding author (i.e. the author responsible for communicating with the journal during the submission, peer review and publication process) from Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL are eligible for a full APC discount.
    • Note that page charges or publication fees unrelated to Open Access are not included in the agreement and will be charged to authors.
    • More information about the agreement is available on the IOP website: Researchers from Switzerland

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • All primary research articles, including research papers, special issue articles, letters and review articles are eligible for inclusion.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles submitted between 1.1.2022 and 31.12.2027 and accepted for publication.

    Quota

    • An unlimited number of articles can be published Open Access under the IOP agreement.

    Author actions

    • As the corresponding/submitting author you will need to make sure your affiliation is clearly stated on the article itself, and on the submission form.
    • It is recommended to use the official name of your institution, i.e.:
      • Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology or
      • Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology or
      • Paul Scherrer Institute or
      • Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
    • You will receive an e-mail from IOP to let you know you may be eligible for funding under an institutional agreement and you will be asked to sign an Open Access copyright form.
    • Articles will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0) .
    • See A guide to submitting under a transformative agreement from IOP for further explanations about the author workflow.

  • General information

    • Open Access publishing in 14 IWA journals without the need to pay an Article Processing Charge.
    • Articles with a corresponding author (i.e. the author responsible for communicating with the journal during the submission, peer review and publication process) from Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL are eligible for a full APC discount.

    Eligible journals

    Agreement period

    • Applies to articles accepted for publication between 1.12.2021 and 31.12.2025.

    Quota

    • An unlimited number of articles can be published Open Access under the IWA agreement.

    Author actions

    • Use your institutional email address when submitting a paper to IWA (i.e. eawag.ch, empa.ch, psi.ch, wsl.ch or slf.ch).
    • Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to decide on the type of Open Access license they would like to be published under. We highly recommend to publish under a CC BY 4.0 license.

  • General information

    • Corresponding authors affiliated to Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL do not pay APCs for publishing in any MDPI journal.

    Eligible journals

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication on January 1, 2022 up to and including December 31, 2025.

    Quota

    • An unlimited number of articles can be published Open Access under the MDPI agreement.

    Author actions

    • Use your institutional email address when submitting a paper to MDPI (i.e. eawag.ch, empa.ch, psi.ch, wsl.ch or slf.ch).
    • Authors are prompted in the last step of submission to confirm they are eligible for discounts under the MDPI Institutional Open Access Program. Please select Lib4RI (Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL) from the institutional membership drop-down menu when submitting your manuscript through the MDPI submission system “Susy”.

    Background

    • Lib4RI is a participating institution in MDPI's Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). Consequently, authors affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL receive a 20% discount on the APCs for any paper published in an MDPI journal. The IOAP discount can be combined with other available discounts (e.g., discount vouchers, or society membership discounts).
    • Invoices for papers with corresponding authors affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL are centrally paid by Lib4RI.
    • See also: MDPI Institutional Open Access Program

  • General information

    • Any article published in Microbiology Society journals where the corresponding author is from Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL will be published Open Access by default without any costs for authors.

    Eligible journals

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2022 and 31.12.2025.

    Quota

    • Unlimited OA publishing in the Society’s six journals.

    Author actions

    • The corresponding author’s institutional email address will be used to verify eligibility for free Open Access. Use your institutional e-mail (eawag.ch, empa.ch, psi.ch, slf.ch or wsl.ch) for the submission in order to profit from this agreement.
    • Where a corresponding author’s email domain matches that of Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL, the author will be asked to sign the default CC-BY Creative Commons licence and the article will be published Open Access without further charge, and without embargo.
    • More info from the Microbiology Society: The author’s journey for fee-free Open Access.

  • General information

    • Corresponding authors affiliated to Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL can publish Open Access free of charge in all hybrid OA Nature Research journals. Nature Reviews, Nature Protocols, and Scientific American are excluded as these journals do not offer an Open Access option. Pure OA Journals (e.g. Nature Communications, Scientific Reports) are also excluded.

    Eligible journals

    • Download the list of eligible Nature Research journals.
    • Nature Reviews, Nature Protocols, and Scientific American are excluded as these journals do not offer an Open Access option. Pure OA Journals (e.g. Nature Communications, Scientific Reports) are also excluded.
    • The Lib4RI Search Tool makes it easy to identify journals eligible for OA publishing without direct costs for authors. 

    Eligible article types

    • Eligible article types: Original Paper, Analysis, Article, Letter, Brief Communication, Registered Report, Resource, Technical Report.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2023 and 31.12.2025.

    Quota

    • The number of articles that can be published Open Access each year without additional payment is restricted at a national level: 2023: 78 articles; 2024: 86 articles; 2025: 94 articles.
    • If in any year the maximum number of articles is exceeded, the OA invoice will be directly sent to the corresponding author.
    • If the annual quota is exhausted, it will be announced here.

    Author actions

    • Once an article is accepted for publication, the author receives an email from SpringerNature with a link to complete the “MyPublication” forms.
    • Please select Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL as your affiliation in the form. Use your institutional e-mail address in the MyPublication-form. Based on your affiliation the publisher will identify the article as eligible to be covered by the Open Access agreement. The corresponding author will be presented with confirmation that they can publish Open Access with their fees covered.
    • Authors can choose between a CC BY 4.0 license (recommended) and a CC BY NC 4.0 license for their article.
    • The Open Access fee on the invoice will be set at EUR 0. This concludes the process on your end.
    • More info from SpringerNature: Open Access agreements for Switzerland

  • General information

    • Corresponding authors affiliated to Eawag, Empa, PSI, or WSL can publish Open Access free of charge in all hybrid OA journals published by Oxford University Press.

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • research article, review article, brief report, or case report

    Agreement period

    • Applies to articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2023 and 31.12.2027.

    Quota

    • No limit for Open Access publishing in this agreement.

    Author actions

    • Corresponding authors must indicate Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL as their primary affiliation when submitting the article in order to be recognized as eligible.
    • It is recommended to use one of the following:
      • Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology or
      • EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology or
      • Paul Scherrer Institute or
      • Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research.
    • Once your paper has been accepted for publication, as the corresponding author you will receive an email with a link to OUP’s online licencing and payment system.
    • Follow this step-by-step guide to request Open Access for your article under the agreement.
    • Authors can choose between a CC BY 4.0 license (recommended), a CC BY NC 4.0 license, or a CC BY NC ND 4.0 license for their article.

  • General information

    • Open Access publishing in all journals of the Royal Society without extra costs for the authors. Articles with a corresponding author from Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL are eligible for a full APC discount.
    • Royal Society Read & Publish Flyer (open in new window)

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • Eligible article types: Original Paper, Analysis, Article, Letter, Brief Communication, Registered Report, Resource, Technical Report.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles submitted between 21.1.2021 and 31.12.2027 and accepted for publication.

    Quota

    • An unlimited number of articles can be made Open Access under this agreement.

    Author actions

    • When submitting an article to a journal of Royal Society Publishing, use your offical Eawag, Empa, PSI, or WSL e-mail address. The publisher will use this information to identify you as an eligible author under the agreement.
    • If asked for the name of your institution, choose one of the following name formats:
      • EAWAG – Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
      • EMPA – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
      • PSI – Paul Scherrer Institute
      • WSL – Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research

        without direct costs for authors.

    If submitting to a pure Open Access journal (i.e. Royal Society Open Science, Open Biology), select Open Access

    • “1. Article processing fees are covered by a special agreement. Please select as appropriate.”
    • “The correponding author is part of a Read & Publish deal”

    If submitting to a hybrid Open Access journal, opt for Open Access publication and select

    • “1. Article processing fees are covered by a special agreement. Please select as appropriate.”
    • “The correponding author is part of a Read & Publish deal”

  • General information

    • Corresponding authors affiliated to Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL can publish Open Access free of charge in all hybrid OA journals of RSC.
    • Pure OA journals published by RSC are excluded from the agreement but a 15% APC discount is granted for researchers at the 4RI. Funding of the APC for articles in pure OA journals might be available from the Open Access fund.
    • Please note that charges for additional options (journal cover artwork fees etc.) are not covered by this agreement.
    • All Open Access articles will be published under a CC BY 4.0 license.  

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • All types of journal articles that undergo peer review are eligible for free OA.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2024 and 31.12.2026.

    Quota

    • There is no limit on the number of articles that can be published OA under the agreement.

    Author actions

    • Identification of eligible papers by RSC is exclusively based on the email domain of the primary corresponding author. Thus, it is crucial that you use your institutional email when submitting a paper to a RSC journal.
    • On acceptance of manuscript, authors get an email with a link to the licensing system. The link takes them to a page with the details of the manuscript provided at submission. After clicking “Start now” authors can select Open Access for their papers and the system will indicate that no payment is required for OA.
    • If your paper has been published Closed Access (and accepted for publication after 1 January 2024) retrospective change to Open Access is possible. Contact us for help with retrospective change of license.
    • See also this guide to article licensing as a Read & Publish author from RSC.

  • General information

    • Corresponding authors affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL are entitled to publish Open Access for free in all SAGE journals. Some SAGE journals affiliated with scientific ‘societies’ are excluded from the agreement.
    • More info on the SAGE website: Open Access agreement Switzerland

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • Article types included: Original Research Papers, Review Papers, Brief Communications, Short Reports, Case Reports.
    • Some commercially sponsored articles, invited articles, book reviews and other content types are excluded.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2021 and 31.12.2025.

    Quota

    • An unlimited number of articles can be made Open Access under this agreement.

    Author actions

    • SAGE will contact all eligible authors informing them about the right to publish Open Access at no cost to the authors 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. Through the SAGE Open Access Portal the author agrees to open access publication and digitally signs the Creative Commons license after which their paper will proceed to open access publication.
    • SAGE identifies your right to publish Open Access free of charge based on the institutional affiliation and the e-mail address you provide when you submit your manuscript. Thus, it is highly recommended that you use your eawag.ch, empa.ch, psi.ch or wsl.ch e-mail address when you submit a paper.
    • In the SAGE Open Access Portal select: Would you like to make your article open access? → Yes, make my article open access
    • Log in to the portal with your user ID and password or register if needed. You will then receive the information that your article will be published Open Access and you can log out.
    • By default the author will be offered the CC BY NC 4.0 license or the CC BY 4.0 license (recommended!) when mandated by a funding organization.
    • Please note all authors should still complete the steps to sign SAGE’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement on acceptance as normal. SAGE still requires this agreement for your article to proceed to production at SAGE. Through the SAGE Open Access Portal, you will automatically receive an open access Contributor’s Agreement that will replace the earlier signed agreement.

  • General information

  • General information

    • Lib4RI supports SCOAP3 (Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics), which allows authors to publish Open Access in key journals in the field of High Energy Physics at no cost to the author and with a CC BY licence. SCOAP3 centrally pays publishers from a common fund at CERN, to which libraries, library consortia, research institutions and funding agencies jointly contribute. Publishing in Open Access is free for all authors. Therefore, no special steps are required to make you article Open Access. Just submit your article as you would normally do.
    • Please note that some journals are only covered for the High Energy Physics articles (as determined by arXiv categorization). Other articles in these journals are published either Closed Access or have to be made available in Open Access via other means.
    • For more information, please check the SCOAP3 FAQs.

    Open Access covered by SCOAP3 for all articles (more info)

    Open Access only covered by SCOAP3 for articles in High Energy Physics (more info)

  • General information

    • Open Access publishing in more than 2000 hybrid Open Access journals without extra costs for the author(s).
    • Articles with a corresponding author from Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL (or any Swiss university) are eligible for a full APC discount.
    • Cost coverage is only for Open Access, but not for other charges (e.g. colour charges, offprints etc.).

    Eligible journals

    • All Springer (including some Springer imprints, e.g. Birkhäuser, Adis, Palgrave Macmillan) journals with a “Springer Open Choice” option for hybrid Open Access are included in the deal:
    • List of eligible Springer journals
    • The Lib4RI Search Tool makes it easy to identify journals eligible for OA publishing without direct costs for authors.

    Eligible article types

    • Open Access without further costs is exclusively available for the following article types: Original Paper, Review Paper, Brief Communication, Continuing Education.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles editorially accepted for publication between 1.7.2020 and 31.12.2025.

    Quota

    • The number of articles that can be made Open Access under this agreement is restricted at a national level (2022: 1430 articles; 2023: 1479 articles; 2024: 1520 articles; 2025: 1566 articles).
    • If in any year the maximum number of articles is exceeded, the OA invoice will be directly sent to the corresponding author.
    • If the annual quota is exhausted, it will be announced here.

    Author actions (for standard workflow journals)

    • Once an article is accepted for publication, the author receives an email from Springer with a link to complete the “MyPublication” forms.
    • Please select Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL as your affiliation in the form. A green box will appear immediately after you have entered your affiliation informing that you are eligible for publishing Open Access free of charge. Use your institutional e-mail address in the MyPublication-form.
    • Agree to Open Access publication under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY 4.0 for most journals; some journals also CC BY-NC 4.0 ). The Open Access fee on the invoice will be set at EUR 0. This concludes the process on your end.
    • See the workflow documentation for further explanations
    • More info from Springer: Open Access agreements for Switzerland

    Background

    • This discount is a result of the negotiations led by swissuniversities with the three major academic publishers: Springer-Nature, Wiley and Elsevier. A negotiation team commissioned by swissuniversities has been negotiating since January 2019 to find a satisfactory agreement for the Swiss scientific community on the “Read and Publish” principle. The negotiation team negotiates on behalf of all Swiss institutions of higher education, including Eawag, Empa, PSI and WSL.
    • More information about the swissuniversities negotiation strategy and goals.

  • General information

    • Open Access publishing in more than 2500 hybrid and full Open Access journals of Taylor & Francis without extra costs for the authors.
    • Articles with a corresponding author from Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL are eligible for a full APC discount.
    • Open Access articles under the agreement are published under a CC-BY 4.0 license.

    Eligible journals

    Eligible article types

    • Eligible article types include: Review, Research Article, Review Article, Report, Short Communication, Case Report, Note, Original Article and others. See this page for detailed information on eligible article types.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 6.2.2024 and 31.12.2027.

    Quota

    • Based on YTD approval rates, the yearly article quota is not expected to be exceeded; this may change.
    • The number of articles that can be made Open Access under this agreement is restricted at a national level (2024: 702 articles; 2025: 716 articles; 2026: 730 articles; 2027: 745 articles). 
    • If the annual quota is exhausted, it will be announced here. 

    Author actions

    • The corresponding author will be identified as eligible either at submission (in the case of an article in a full Open Access journal) or at acceptance (in the case of an article in a hybrid Open Access journal = “Open Select”).
    • Authors are identified by e-mail domain (eawag.ch, empa.ch, psi.ch, wsl.ch, slf.ch) or the author can select his institution from a drop down menu:
      Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
      Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
      Paul Scherrer Institute
      Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
    • It is therefore essential that you use the e-mail provided by your institution when submitting to a T&F journal.

    Background

  • General information

    • The agreement enables corresponding authors affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL to publish Open Access in all (hybrid OA) journals of Trans Tech Publications without additional costs.
    • In order take advantage of this agreement, the primary corresponding author needs to be affiliated with Eawag/Empa/PSI/WSL on the submitted paper and this affiliation also needs to be stated in the submission workflow.
    • Articles will be published under the CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribute License) license.

    Eligible journals

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication between 1.1.2021 and 31.12.2026.

    Quota

    • There is no limit on the number of articles that can be published Open Access under the agreement.

    Author actions

    • Eligible Authors are identified by the publisher through e-mail domain(s). Thus, it is essential to use your institional e-mail address for submission to Trans Tech Publications journals, i.e. ewag.ch, empa.ch, psi.ch, slf.ch or wsl.ch.
    • The workflow overview can be found in the Open Access Guide for Authors.

  • Update 4.11.2024: Article quota for 2024 used up. The negotiations by swissuniversities with Wiley for a new agreement for 2025 are still ongoing. No free Open Access publishing until further notice. Updates are posted here.

    General information

    • Open Access publishing in all Wiley hybrid Open Access journals without extra costs for the authors.
    • Articles with a corresponding author from Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL are eligible for a full APC discount. For papers with multiple corresponding authors, the submitting author needs to identify a “responsible corresponding author”. “Responsible corresponding authors” with primary affiliation (for the article) with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL are elgibilbe for free Open Access.

    Eligible journals

    • All Wiley hybrid Open Access journals: List of eligible journals
    • Please note that Water Resources Research, Functional Ecology and several other journals have been flipped to Gold OA and are now excluded from the Wiley agreement. More info in our news here & there.
    • The Lib4RI Search Tool makes it easy to identify journals eligible for OA publishing without direct costs for authors.

    Eligible article types

    • Restricted to article types that are primary research and review articles, including but not limited to original articles, case studies, reviews, short communications.
    • Editorial, book reviews and some other article types are not eligible for free Open Access.
    • Unfortunately, Wiley is quite vague about the eligibility of specific article types. Please contact us if in doubt about the elgibility of an article type and we will confirm the elgibility with Wiley.

    Agreement period

    • Applies to all articles accepted for publication in a hybrid Open Access journal from May 1, 2021 up to and including December 31, 2024.

    Quota

    • Update 4.11.2024: Article quota for 2024 used up. The negotiations by swissuniversities with Wiley for a new agreement for 2025 are still ongoing. No free Open Access publishing until further notice. 

    Author actions

    • Once your article is accepted, register or log in to Wiley Author Services.
    • On Wiley Author Services the corresponding author should review and confirm their affiliation, choose the Open Access option, review and sign a Creative Commons licence.
    • Corresponding authors can choose among CC-BY , CC-BY-NC and CC-BY-NC-ND for their article. We strongly recommend to license your article under a CC-BY license.
    • For further information on the workflow for corresponding author, see Make your article Open Access with OnlineOpen

    Background

    • This discount is a result of the negotiations led by swissuniversities with the three major academic publishers: Springer-Nature, Wiley and Elsevier. A negotiation team commissioned by swissuniversities has been negotiating since January 2019 to find a satisfactory agreement for the Swiss scientific community on the “Read and Publish” principle. The negotiation team negotiates on behalf of all Swiss institutions of higher education, including Eawag, Empa, PSI and WSL.
    • More information about the swissuniversities negotiation strategy and goals.

Discounts on APCs

discounts_on_apcs

  • Deal
    Corresponding authors affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL receive a 90% discount on Open Access fees at all journals licensed by Lib4RI. These journals are:

    • American Mineralogist
    • Bibliotheksdienst
    • Bibliothek Forschung und Praxis
    • Holzforschung
    • International Journal of Materials Research
    • Pure and Applied Chemistry
    • Radiochimica Acta
    • Zeitschrift für Kristallographie – Crystalline Materials

    Discount

    • 90% discount on hybrid Open Access fee.

    Author actions

    Additional Information

    • In addition to the discount on hybrid Open Access fees, our contract with de Gruyter does also grant authors from Swiss institutions permission free of charge to store their articles in the form published by the publisher (e.g. PDF) without time embargo in an institutional repository (e.g. DORA) in order to make them available in Open Access. This applies to articles published in the journals specified above. This form of Open Access does not require any payment and you only need to submit your paper to DORA in order to make it Open Access.

  • Deal

    • Lib4RI maintains a subscription to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). As a result, PNAS grants a discount to all corresponding authors affiliated with Eawag, Empa, PSI or WSL who wish to pay an article processing charge (APC) to publish their articles Open Access. Note that this discount only applies to articles published under a CC-BY-NC-ND license, not to articles published under a CC-BY license.

    Discount

    • $500

    Author actions

    • Together with the article proofs PNAS will send billing forms to the corresponding author.
    • If you wish to make your article Open Access, select the Open Access Option in these forms, choose a CC-BY-NC-ND license and indicate the reduced APC due to a site license.
    • You have also the option to publish Open Access with a CC-BY license. Please note, however, that the discount only applies to articles published under a CC-BY-NC-ND license. 

    Background

    • PNAS offers this discount to all institutional subscribers. The discount is not explicitly included in the subscription agreements and therefore might be removed/modified by PNAS any time. The library does not pay for this discount.
    • More information about publishing Open Access with PNAS can be found on PNAS’s Open Access page.

  • Deal

    • Submitting/corresponding authors from Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL get a 15% discount when publishing in Science Advances, journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Information about the Science Advances APC fees can be found on the Science Advances Website.

    Discount

    • 15%

    Author Action

    • After your article is accepted, you will receive an email notifying you that your APC payment is due. This email will contain a link to the RightsLink for Open Access APC payment system.
      You can choose between a CC-BY license (recommended) and a CC-BY-NC-ND license for your article.
    • To get the 15% discount, click the blue “Apply Discounts”-button; search for and choose your institution.
    • Click the orange “Apply discounts”-button. The reduction in USD will appear.
    • See the workflow documentation for further explanation.

    Background

    • AAAS offers this discount to all institutional subscribers independently of license negotiations; it is not explicitly included in subscription agreements. Lib4RI does not pay for this discount, nor does Lib4RI receive any refund on subscription costs when affiliated authors pay to publish in Science Advances.

Other funding options

  • The Swiss National Science Foundation, the European Commission and many other research funders offer funding options for publications that result from funded research projects. Please see this page for details on funding options for Open Access.
  • If your are publishing in a full Open Access journal that charges a fee, funding of the article fee might be available via our Open Access Fund. Check out the funding conditions and application procedure here: Open Access Publication Fund.
other_funding_options