Open access article publishing costs

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, previously 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.

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Open access publishing agreements and discounts

  • Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

    Transformative Model for Open Access publishing   

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: Publish open access in the journals and conference proceedings eligible under ACM OPEN 

    Eligible article types: Peer-reviewed research articles

    How to apply: Via publisher website using your Manchester Met email address - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2025

  • American Chemical Society (ACS)

    Read and Publish agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission

    Journals included: Publish open access in all ACS journals, including ACS Omega, JACS Au, the ACS Au collection, and all ACS hybrid journals.

    Eligible article types: All

    How to apply: Via publisher website using your Manchester Met email address - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2024

  • American Physiological Society (APS)

    Read, Publish and Join Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission

    Journals included: 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).

    Eligible article types: Primary research or review articles

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2024

  • American Psychological Association (APA)

    Read and Publish agreement 

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students, staff and alumni who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: Publish open access in 86 APA-published hybrid journals and 15 hybrid Hogrefe titles.

    The deal also provides a 25% APC discount in three fully OA Hogrefe journals.

    A maximum consortium article cap is set at 531 articles. Should participating UK institutions exceed 531, a discount of 30 per cent only can be applied to the APC cost.

    Eligible article types: Original peer-reviewed research articles or review articles

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends July 2026

  • BMJ

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article acceptance

    Journals included: Publish open access in 57 hybrid, transformative and fully open access journals on the BMJ platform.

    Eligible article types: Original research articles only (original articles reporting on primary research)

    How to apply: Via publisher website – no need to apply to the APC fund.

    Ends December 2024

  • Cambridge University Press (CUP)

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility:  Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: 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.

    Eligible article types: Research articles, review articles and rapid communications, brief reports and case reports.

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2024

  • Company of Biologists

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students, staff and alumni who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: Publish open access in the Society’s three hybrid journals:

    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology

    Two of Company of Biologist’s fully open access journals are also included:

    • Biology Open
    • Disease Models and Mechanisms

    Eligible article types: All

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2026

  • Elsevier

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: 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.

    Note:It also provides a 15% discount on APCs for open access publishing in fully Open Access Elsevier journals.

    Eligible article types: Case reports, data in briefs, full-length articles, micro-articles, original software publication, practice guidelines, protocols, review articles, replication studies, short communications, short surveys, video articles. When publishing in eligible journals from The Lancet, full length articles are the only eligible article type.

    How to apply:

    • For hybrid Core, Cell Press and the Lancet journals via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund
    • For fully Open Access Elsevier journals via publisher website, if you need funding for the remaining APC, use the APC application form

    Ends December 2024

  • Frontiers

    Discount Agreement

    Author eligibility: Authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met.

    Journals included: Articles published in Frontiers journals or hosted journals are eligible for a 10% discount on APC list price

    Eligible article types: All               

    How to apply:   If you need funding for the remaining APC, use the APC application form before submitting to the journal. You must secure additional funding before you apply via the publisher website

    No end date

  • MDPI

    Discount Agreement

    Author eligibility: Authors including university staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students, those on temporary or permanent research contracts, lecturers, and full professors, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission. Those granted an emeritus title are also included. Those with a temporary status (e.g., visiting researchers) qualify as affiliated authors if the research in the manuscript was partially or wholly conducted at Manchester Met.

    Journals included: Articles published in MDPI journals 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.) All

    Eligible article types: All

    How to apply:   If you need funding for the remaining APC, use the APC application form before submitting to the journal. You must secure additional funding before you apply via the publisher website

    Ends December 2024

  • Microbiology Society

    Publish and Read Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students, staff and alumni who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article acceptance.

    Journals included: 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) 

    Eligible article types: All

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2024

  • Oxford University Press (OUP)

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility: Authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: Publish open access in over 400 hybrid and fully open access journals.

    Eligible article types: Research article, review article, brief report, or case report. Book reviews and articles published in supplements are not included.

    How to apply: Via publisher website using your Manchester Met email address - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2025

  • PLOS

    Flat Fee Agreement

    Author eligibility: Authors (contributing and/or corresponding), including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: Publish open access in the following PLOS journals:

    • PLOS Complex Systems
    • PLOS Computational Biology
    • PLOS Digital Health
    • PLOS Genetics
    • PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
    • PLOS ONE
    • PLOS Pathogens

    PLOS Global Equity 

    • PLOS Climate
    • PLOS Global Public Health
    • PLOS Mental Health
    • PLOS Water

    PLOS Community Action

    • PLOS Medicine
    • PLOS Biology
    • PLOS Sustainability and Transformation

    Eligible article types: All

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2024

  • Royal Society

    Open Access Membership Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: Articles published in Royal Society journals are eligible for a 25% discount on APC list prices.

    Eligible article types: All

    How to apply: Via publisher website – if you need funding for the remaining APC, use the APC application form

    Ends December 2024

  • Royal Society of Chemistry

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: Publish open access in all RSC hybrid journals.

    Note: this does not cover fully Open Access journals.

    Eligible article types: Peer reviewed articles, including full papers, communications, and reviews. Editorials and corrections are not included. 

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    End December 2024

  • Sage

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article acceptance.

    Journals included: 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.

    Eligible article types: Includes but not limited to: original research papers, review papers, brief communications, short reports, case reports. Articles published as part of commercially sponsored supplements, errata, book reviews, editorials, published abstracts, call for papers, news items or similar are excluded.

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2024 

  • Springer

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article submission.

    Journals included: 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 15% discount on the APC. Apply to the APC fund for support paying the remainder of the cost.

    Eligible article types:

    • Original Paper – Standard article, generally presenting new results which may also be referred to as Original Research, Original Article, Original Paper or Research Paper.
    • Review Paper – Standard article, interpreting previously published results.
    • Brief Communication – Short article submitted for rapid publication that exhibits the same structure as a standard article.
    • Continuing Education – Article forming integral part of further education (usually medical).

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2025

  • Taylor and Francis

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students, staff and alumni who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article acceptance.

    Journals included: Publish open access in more than 2000 Taylor & Francis hybrid (Open Select) and fully open access journals.  

    Eligible article types: Original research articles. Other types of paper, such as editorials, announcements, and book reviews are not included.

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2025

  • Wiley

    Read and Publish Agreement

    Author eligibility: Corresponding authors, including all undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff, who are affiliated with Manchester Met at the point of article acceptance.

    Journals included: Publish open access in 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 [email protected], to check if your article will be eligible.

    Eligible article types: Primary research or a review articles. Other article types e.g. letters, editorials etc. are not included.

    How to apply: Via publisher website - no need to apply to APC fund

    Ends December 2025

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.