Open Access and Scholarly Communications: Finding Author Support

Many publishers require payment of Article Processing Charges (APCs) to publish articles open access. While the University Libraries does not have a general open access fund to cover publication fees, we do have agreements with some publishers which allow authors affiliated with UNC-Chapel Hill to publish open access for free or at reduced cost. 

This page contains a list of discounts and waivers that are currently available to authors affiliated with UNC-Chapel Hill. Many of these agreements are renegotiated annually, so if you find an agreement that has not been updated in several months, check with a librarian or email OAPublishing@unc.edu to confirm that the agreement is still active.

If none of these agreements work for you and you don't have other funding, consider submitting your manuscript to an Open Access journal that does not charge APCs (Diamond Open Access). A list of Diamond Open Access journals can be found at the Directory of Open Access Journals.

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• American Chemical Society (ACS) - Hybrid/Transformative Journals
• Biochemical Society (agreement discontinued)
• British Journal of Cancer (BJC)
• Company of Biologists - Hybrid/Transformative Journals
• Electrochemical Society
• Frontiers (agreement discontinued)
• International Journal of Developmental Botany
• Nucleic Acids Research (Oxford University Press) (agreement discontinued)
• PLOS - All Journals
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS)
• Sage Publishing - All Journals
• Society for Endocrinology

AAAS (the American Association for the Advancement of Science) no longer offers APC discounts to institutional subscribers. However, authors who are AAAS members qualify for a 4% APC discount. This applies to their Open Access title, Science Advances.

(last updated Feb 24, 2025)

Authors affiliated with UNC-Chapel Hill are eligible for a $250 discount when publishing in any of ACS Publications' Hybrid/Transformative Journals. The discount does not apply to their fully open access journals. Individual ACS Premium Package members are also eligible for an addiitonal $250 discount, which applies to any of their journals. 

(last updated Feb 24, 2025)

The University Libraries has a Read & Publish agreement with Company of Biologists, which means researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill can publish open access in any of their 3 transformative journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science, or Journal of Experimental Biology) at no charge. Please note that Company of Biologists’ 2 Gold OA titles are not currently eligible for the agreement: Biology Open, Disease Models & Mechanisms.

When you submit your article, make sure that the corresponding author's institutional affiliation is filled in correctly, and complete the “Open Access” submission question by selecting “Read & Publish agreement." If your article is accepted, the APC waiver will be applied automatically. For more information, see the Company of Biologists' Guide for Authors.

We are happy to answer your questions about this agreement with Company of Biologists and to help you determine eligibility. Please send an email to OApublishing@unc.edu.

(last updated Feb 24, 2025)

The Electrochemical Society offers UNC-CH authors unlimited article credits providing a 100% discount on publication fees. When you submit your paper, select Author Choice Open Access and indicate that you come from a subscribing institution. Journals eligible for open access include:

• Journal of The Electrochemical Society
• ECS Electrochemistry Letters
• ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology
• ECS Solid State Letters
• Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters

Authors can choose between the CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is cited appropriately, or the CC BY–NC–ND license, which places similar restrictions on usage as the publisher does in the traditional copyright arrangement. It limits use to non-commercial use (—NC), and restricts others from creating derivative works (—ND). 

(last updated Jul 30, 2020)

Effective July 2023, UNC-Chapel Hill discontinued our institutional read/publish agreement with Frontiers journals. UNC-Chapel Hill authors will no longer be qualify for APC waivers for Frontiers journals.

(last updated Feb 24, 2025)

The International Journal of Developmental Botany offers UNC-CH authors a 25% discount on publication fees due to our institutional subscription. Payment of the open access fee (1500 Euro) covers deposition of accepted papers on behalf of author in the corresponding repository (PubMed Central, etc.) without any embargo. If the author is selecting open access for compliance with a funding agency's archiving conditions, the author must provide information about the funding agency, grant number and corresponding repository once the article has been accepted for publication.

(last updated Dec 2, 2019)

Until December 31, 2022, Nucleic Acids Research offered UNC-CH authors a 50% discount on article processing charges due to our institutional subscription. Effective January 1, 2023, this discount is no longer available.

(last updated Nov 10, 2023)

Article Processing Charge (APC) Waivers for all PLOS Journals

UNC-Chapel Hill researchers publishing in journals from PLOS will no longer need to pay article processing charges. The waiver is thanks to the University Libraries’ participation in several PLOS publishing partnerships.

The agreements pilot various ways for institutions to reduce the fee burden for open access publishing and to increase the amount of high-quality peer-reviewed research in open circulation.

PLOS operates as a nonprofit. Since its launch in 2001, it has pioneered open access alternatives to standard subscription journals in the areas of science and medicine.

Information for authors

The agreements with PLOS provide benefits for corresponding authors and, in some cases, contributing authors from UNC-Chapel Hill.

All 14 PLOS titles are covered by this agreement. They are:  

1. PLOS ONE 

2. PLOS Biology 

3. PLOS Climate 

4. PLOS Complex Systems

5. PLOS Computational Biology 

6. PLOS Digital Health 

7. PLOS Genetics 

8. PLOS Global Public Health 

9. PLOS Medicine 

10. PLOS Mental Health

11. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 

12. PLOS Pathogens 

13. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation 

14. PLOS Water

Who is eligible?  

All UNC Chapel Hill faculty, staff and student corresponding authors, whose articles are accepted by a PLOS journal (after our agreement’s start date) are eligible for funding. Contributing authors to articles in PLOS Biology, PLOS Medicine and PLOS Sustainability and Transformation are eligible to receive a 25% discount.  

What does the annual fee cover? 

The CAP annual fee covers publishing costs for all UNC Chapel Hill corresponding authors. No article processing charges (APCs) will be charged by PLOS to UNC Chapel Hill corresponding authors. There are no limits on articles published.  

How do authors receive funding? 

If you are the corresponding author for an article submitted to a PLOS journal, indicate your UNC-Chapel Hill affiliation on the submission form. In the "Authors" tab, under “Current Author List”, click on the pencil icon to edit the information next to your name. Begin typing "University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill" in the Affiliations box, and then choose the correct affiliation from the pre-populated options. If you type the whole name manually, the system may not apply the institutional discount.

If you are a contributing author to an article submitted to PLOS Biology, PLOS Medicine or PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, UNC-Chapel Hill’s participation will provide a 25% discount for article processing charges. (If the corresponding author is from a different partner institution, all charges will be covered.)  Contributing authors should communicate eligibility for a 25% discount to the corresponding author.  

What are the publishing terms? 

Manuscripts accepted by PLOS for publication will be published under Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0. 

Learn more through the PLOS publishing information page or FAQ. Questions? Contact OApublishing@unc.edu.

(last updated Jan 30, 2025)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) allows UNC-CH authors to pay a surcharge of $5495 (off of $5995, approximately a 8.5% discount) to provide immediate open access to their article. PNAS automatically deposits the final, published version of all its content, regardless of funding, in PubMed Central (PMC) and makes it free at both PMC and PNAS just 6 months after publication.

PNAS subscriber status only applies to articles published within PNAS, so there is no subscriber discount for articles published within PNAS Nexus. Please refer to https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/pages/general-instructions, and scroll to "Manuscript Charges" at the bottom for PNAS Nexus rates.

(last updated Feb 24, 2025)

The University Libraries and SAGE Publishing have expanded opportunities for researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to publish open access articles in SAGE journals at no cost to the researcher. This move comes following the conclusion of a successful pilot agreement.

Under the new agreement, part of the subscription fees that the Library will pay for SAGE content will cover the costs of open access publishing for UNC-Chapel Hill authors in SAGE publications. To qualify for the agreement, the corresponding author must be affiliated with UNC and have an article accepted for publication between January 01, 2023, and December 31, 2025.

Who is eligible to use this funding?

You must have had an article accepted for publishing in an eligible SAGE journal. The corresponding author must be a UNC-Chapel Hill affiliate.

Which SAGE journals are eligible?

All SAGE Choice and SAGE Gold Open Access journals are eligible. There is a short list of exceptions. The excepted journals do not participate in SAGE Choice and are not eligible for funding. Additionally, the agreement does not yet apply to the Mary Ann Liebert journals which SAGE recently acquired.

How can I access this funding?

Once your article has been accepted for publication by an eligible SAGE journal, you will receive an email from SAGE asking if you would like to publish as open access. Select “Yes” and select UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries as the payer.

Will all articles by UNC-Chapel Hill authors be funded?

Yes. The University Libraries’ agreement with SAGE covers all articles published by eligible UNC-Chapel Hill authors in eligible journals. There is no cap on the number of articles that will be covered.

How can I learn more or get help?

We are happy to answer your questions about this agreement with SAGE Publishing and to help you determine eligibility. Please send an email to OApublishing@unc.edu.

(last updated Feb 24, 2025)

Select journals from the Society for Endocrinology offer UNC-CH authors a 50% discount on article processing charges due to our institutional subscriptions. These include:

• Journal of Endocrinology
• Journal of Molecular Endocrinology
• Endocrine-Related Cancer​

(last updated February 24, 2025)

The Scholarly Communications Officer provides guidance, policy development, and advocacy to faculty, students, and staff on the following issues:

• Copyright and fair use

• Authors’ rights

• Privacy rights

• Open access

• Policy related to scholarly material

For more information, visit the Scholarly Communications Office webpage, or contact Scholarly Communications Officer Anne Gilliland, MSLS, JD.