Open Access Support

The Open Access (OA) publishing model provides free and immediate access to publications. UGA Libraries makes strategic investments to support open scholarship initiatives and free or discounted open access publishing for UGA researchers.

How We Support Authors

We support UGA-affiliated authors who publish in open access journals through institutional memberships and agreements with specific publishers. UGA corresponding authors benefit from pre-arranged discounts or waivers on article processing charges (APCs).

Memberships and Agreements

Wiley APC Waivers Running Out for 2025

Wiley Hybrid Journals: We have an annual cap of 180 APC waivers for hybrid open access journals. 2025 APC waiver funds are expected to be depleted around December 17th.  

  • Once Hybrid APC waivers are depleted for 2025, authors should be prepared to pay the APC for articles accepted in 2025.
  • Beginning January 1, Hybrid APC waivers will be replenished with a new cap of 189 Hybrid APC waivers during 2026.   

Wiley Gold Journals: We have an annual cap of 60 APC waivers for these fully open access journals. We have sufficient Wiley Gold APC waivers to last through the end of 2025.   

  • Beginning January 1, Wiley Gold APC waivers will be replenished with a new cap of 63 Gold APC waivers during 2026.   

More on Capped APCs 
When the UGA Libraries negotiate with publishers, we try to remove limits on how many article processing charges (APCs) can be covered under the agreement. Some publishers won’t agree to that, so instead we negotiate a capped number of APC waivers based on the university's typical research output that can increase each year over the life of the agreement. 

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) 

UGA Libraries participate in a transformative agreement with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) that provides UGA-affiliated corresponding authors a complete waiver of Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access publication in ACM journals. Accepted research articles are published under a CC BY license which allows for rights retention for authors.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: All ACM journals, proceedings, and magazines

Discount or waiver: Full waiver (100%) of all Article Processing Charges (APCs)

More information: More about the ACM's Open Model

American Chemical Society (ACS) 

UGA Libraries participate in a transformative agreement with the American Chemical Society (ACS) that provides UGA-affiliated corresponding authors a complete waiver of Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access publication in ACS journals. Accepted research articles are published under a CC BY license which allows for rights retention for authors.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: All ACS Journals

Discount or waiver: Full waiver (100%) of all Article Processing Charges (APCs)

More information: See ACS’s Guide for Authors

BioMed Central / SpringerOpen 

UGA Libraries is an institutional member of BioMed Central, which entitles UGA corresponding authors to a 15% discount on APCs for BioMed Central (BMC) and SpringerOpen titles.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: All BMC or SpringerOpen journals

Discount or waiver: Fifteen percent (15%) off the Article Processing Charges (APCs)

More information: See BMC’s Submission Guidelines for Authors Requesting a Membership Discount for directions when submitting your manuscript.

Cambridge University Press 

UGA Libraries participate in a transformative agreement with Cambridge University Press (CUP) that provides UGA-affiliated corresponding authors a complete waiver of Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access publication in Cambridge University Press OA journals. Accepted research articles are published under a Creative Commons (CC) license

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: All CUP Journals with an OA option (both gold and hybrid titles)

Discount or waiver: Full waiver (100%) of all Article Processing Charges (APCs)

More information: See the Step-by-step guide to Publishing Open Access in Cambridge journals

UGA authors also have the option to retroactively convert articles published non-OA in CUP journals during the term of this agreement (through 2026). Any request to convert to OA must be made in the same year that the article was published.

Company of Biologists 

UGA Libraries participate in a transformative agreement with the Company of Biologists that provides UGA-affiliated corresponding authors a complete waiver of Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access publication in Company of Biologists journals. Accepted research articles are published under a Creative Commons (CC) license selected by the author.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: UGA participates in the 5-Journal Read & Publish package, including the following titles: Biology Open Development Disease Models & Mechanisms Journal of Cell Science Journal of Experimental Biology

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: UGA participates in the 5-Journal Read & Publish package , including the following titles:

  • Biology Open
  • Development
  • Disease Models & Mechanisms
  • Journal of Cell Science
  • Journal of Experimental Biology

Discount or waiver: Full waiver (100%) of all Article Processing Charges (APCs)

More information: The Guide for Authors provides a step-by-step guide to article submission.

Elsevier

The UGA Libraries participate in a transformative agreement with Elsevier that provides UGA-affiliated corresponding authors a complete waiver of Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access publication in Hybrid Elsevier journals. Accepted research articles are published under a Creative Commons (CC) license selected by the author.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors 

Eligible journals: See list of eligible Hybrid Elsevier journals 

Discount or waiver: Full waiver (100%) of all Article Processing Charges (APCs) 

More information: See the Author Publishing Process for this agreement and Elsevier’s Open Access Author Hub

MDPI

UGA Libraries is an institutional member of MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), which entitles UGA corresponding authors to a 10% discount on article processing charges (APCs) for MDPI titles.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: All MDPI journals

Discount or waiver: 10% discount on APCs

More Information: See MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Guide

Microbiology Society 

UGA Libraries participate in a transformative agreement with the Microbiology Society that provides UGA-affiliated corresponding authors a complete waiver of Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access publication in any of the Society’s six journals. Accepted research articles are published under a Creative Commons (CC) license selected by the author.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: All Microbiology Society Journals

  • Journal of Medical Microbiology
  • International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
  • Microbiology
  • Microbial Genomics
  • Access Microbiology

Discount or waiver: Full waiver (100%) of all Article Processing Charges (APCs)

More information: See Microbiology Society’s Information for Authors .

Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 

UGA Libraries participate in a transformative agreement with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) that provides UGA-affiliated corresponding authors a complete waiver of Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access publication in RSC journals.

Accepted research articles are published under a Creative Commons (CC) license selected by the author.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: All RSC Journals with an OA option (both gold and hybrid titles)

Discount or waiver: Full waiver (100%) of all Article Processing Charges (APCs)

More information: See the RSC Read & Publish workflow guide (PDF)

Springer Nature 

UGA Libraries participate in a transformative agreement with Springer Nature that provides UGA-affiliated corresponding authors a complete waiver of Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access publication in Hybrid Springer Nature journals. Accepted research articles are published under a Creative Commons (CC) license selected by the author.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: See list of eligible Hybrid Springer Nature journals

Note: The flagship journal Nature and Nature Research Journals are not included in the agreement.

Discount or waiver: Full waiver (100%) of all Article Processing Charges (APCs)

More information: See the Springer Nature OA Author Guide (PDF)

Wiley 

UGA Libraries participate in a transformative agreement with Wiley that provides UGA-affiliated corresponding authors a complete waiver of Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access publication in Gold (fully open access) and Hybrid Wiley journals, as long as APC allocations are available. Accepted research articles are published under a Creative Commons (CC) license selected by the author.

Once 180 Hybrid APCs or 60 Gold APCs are funded during the calendar year, UGA-affiliated authors may choose to pay an APC to publish open access. For more information, go to the Wiley Open Access page or contact us with any questions about the program.

Eligible authors: All UGA-affiliated corresponding authors

Eligible journals: See List of Gold Open Access Journals and List of Hybrid Open Access Journals .

Discount or waiver: Full waiver (100%) of all Article Processing Charges (APCs) as long as APC allocations are available.

More information: See Wiley’s Open access FAQs for Authors

Wiley APC Waivers Running Out for 2025

Wiley Hybrid Journals: We have an annual cap of 180 APC waivers for hybrid open access journals. 2025 APC waiver funds are expected to be depleted around December 17th.  

Once Hybrid APC waivers are depleted for 2025, authors should be prepared to pay the APC for articles accepted in 2025.

Beginning January 1, Hybrid APC waivers will be replenished with a new cap of 189 Hybrid APC waivers during 2026.  

Wiley Gold Journals: We have an annual cap of 60 APC waivers for these fully open access journals. We have sufficient Wiley Gold APC waivers to last through the end of 2025.  

Beginning January 1, Wiley Gold APC waivers will be replenished with a new cap of 63 Gold APC waivers during 2026.  

More on Capped APCs 
When the UGA Libraries negotiate with publishers, we try to remove limits on how many article processing charges (APCs) can be covered under the agreement. Some publishers won’t agree to that, so instead we negotiate a capped number of APC waivers based on the university's typical research output that can increase each year over the life of the agreement.