Free publication of articles under the CC-BY license in 86 selected journal titles (70 hybrid journals and 16 fully open-access journals). The program covers all article types except: Additions and Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions.
How does it work?
Authors submitting articles for peer review in an ACS journal complete an online form in which they should select their affiliation from the list of institutions. It is also recommended, though not mandatory, to provide an email address associated with the institution’s domain.
Once the article has been accepted for publication, the author receives an email from the publisher containing a link to the Journal Publishing Agreement (JPA) form and — if the appropriate affiliation was previously indicated — information about the possibility of participating in the program. In the JPA form, the author has the option to choose OA publication while retaining copyright. The author may also waive copyright or choose publication under the traditional model.
Free publication of articles under the CC-BY license in 86 selected journal titles (70 hybrid journals and 16 fully open-access journals). The program covers all article types except: Additions and Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions.
Free publication of articles in selected journal titles. The program enables free publication in selected hybrid journals from the following subject areas: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Computer Science; Engineering; Health Sciences; Immunology and Microbiology; Mathematics; Physics and Astronomy; as well as journals from The Lancet group. The program does not include gold open access journals or certain journals co-published by Elsevier, in which open-access publishing is financed under special conditions and therefore cannot be covered by the program.The program covers the following article types: Case Reports, Data, Full Length Articles, Micro Articles, Software, Reviews, Replication Studies, Short Communications, Short Surveys, Videos, Practice Guidelines, and Protocols (description of article types).
How does it work?
If the author’s institution, journal, and article type are covered by the program, the Rights and Access form with the option for open-access publication under the program will be displayed automatically. If the article qualifies for the program and the available article quota has not yet been exhausted at the time of completing the form, the form will display an APC waiver option (form presentation), and the local administrator will verify the author’s affiliation. Once the available article quota has been exhausted, articles — despite the initial selection of the open-access model — are published under the subscription model, which requires payment of the full APC fee.
Receive a 10% discount on APCs across all MDPI journals.
How it works?
After registering and logging in to the MDPI website, complete the publication submission form in the Submit tab and select WMU University. An invoice will be sent to the address provided by the author.
There is no limit on the number of articles that can be published in THESE journal titles (marked “yes” in column C of the provided table). Articles published under the subscription model during the program suspension period may be converted to open access (“retroactivation”). In 2025, consortium members published 95 articles.
Free publication of articles in journals from THIS list (column C must contain a note “yes” in the provided table); the OUP program does not include several hybrid journals belonging to learned societies that do not participate in transformative agreements, nor fully open access journals. However, corresponding authors from institutions covered by the program can benefit from a 10% discount on the APC fee in fully open access journals.
How it works?
The author of an article accepted for publication should complete the online form according to the publisher’s instructions and select WMU as the institutional affiliation. The OA charge will be then verified by the publisher.
The corresponding author should use an email address associated with the domain of an institution participating in the program. This ensures that the system automatically sends an article verification request to the consortium administrator.
Retroactivation: authors from institutions covered by the program in 2026 who have published their articles in the subscription model during the period of suspension of the program in journals covered by the program, will receive information from the publisher about the possibility of converting the article to the open access model under the program. The publisher will send out this information immediately after the launch of the program. The author who would like to take advantage of this opportunity should send an email with confirmation to the publisher.
Free publication in the journal Science Advances (IF 12.5).
How it works?
During the article submission process, authors are required to select “View Publication Charges”, choose the appropriate license (CC BY or CC BY-NC), indicate their institution, and apply for a fee waiver. Detailed information about the process is available on this website
Free publication of articles in selected hybrid journals under the CC BY license. The author’s affiliation should be included in the article header. The program covers the following article types: Original Paper, Review Paper, Brief Communication, and Continuing Education. It does not cover Editorial Notes, News, or Letters.Within the program, the Article Processing Charge (APC) is covered, but optional additional fees (e.g. for color figures) are not included. Note: the journal Advances in Therapy charges a mandatory additional Rapid Service Fee, which is not covered by the program. If the author wishes to publish under a CC BY-NC license, this must be requested from the publisher at ORSupport@springernature.com at the time of submission or immediately after the first submission to the journal.
How does it work?
After the article is accepted for publication, the author receives an email from the publisher with a link to the “Publishing and rights” form, as described in the Author eligibility workflow presentation (pp. 8–18). In the form, the author selects their country (p. 9) and is then informed about the APC for open access publication in the given journal (p. 10). Next, the author confirms the affiliation previously provided at submission (p. 11) or selects it again from the list of institutions (p. 12). The affiliation selected in the form must match one of the affiliations listed in the article, including language version (only English versions of Polish institution names are included in the form list). If the institution selected by the author is covered by the Springer national license agreement and the annual quota of articles has not yet been exhausted at the time of completing the form, the system recognizes the institution as eligible for the program and displays the message: “Your article with open access – without costs” (p. 13). In this case, the form automatically routes the article into the program and requests additional information and consents from the author (pp. 16–17). If the annual quota has already been exhausted, the form offers the author a choice between subscription-based publication or open access publication at their own expense (pp. 14–15). Once the form is completed (p. 18) and the article is routed into the program, the publisher sends the article information to the local institutional administrator for affiliation verification. If the administrator confirms the affiliation, the APC is automatically covered by the national license fee paid to Springer by ICM from MNiSW funds, and the author is asked by the publisher to approve the final version of the article (pp. 19–20). If the author wishes to publish in the subscription model, they may contact the local administrator before or immediately after completing the form so that the article can be withdrawn from the program, allowing publication under the subscription option.
The procedure described above is used by Springer for most hybrid journals, except for approximately 100 journals which in the 2026 catalog, under the column “Journal: Hybrid Specific Workflow,” are marked as “Non standard.” In these cases, the corresponding author receives specific instructions directly from the editorial office.
178 articles from THIS list of journals. Authors who publish open access articles at their own expense in 2026 before the program is launched will not be eligible for reimbursement under the program.
The program covers specific types of articles. The publisher’s system automatically qualifies articles that may be published under the program based on the affiliation provided by the author at the submission stage, the journal title, and the article type. Initial eligibility screening takes place immediately after the article is accepted for publication. At this stage, the system checks whether the annual quota of articles in the program has not been exceeded and, in the case of articles in “High Impact” journals, whether the dedicated quota for this group has not been exceeded for the year. If the article is eligible for the program, the author receives an email from the publisher informing them of the possibility to participate in the program, along with a second email containing a link to the “Author Publishing Agreement” form (see author presentation). If the author indicates in the form that they wish to participate in the program, the article is forwarded to an administrator who verifies the author’s affiliation and approves or rejects the article’s inclusion in the program. If the article is rejected, the publisher’s system asks the author to complete the agreement form again and choose either open access publication at their own expense or publication under the subscription model.
