Choosing Where to Publish: Open access journals

Open Access has many benefits, including making research widely available
without needing journal subscriptions.  Open Access is required by NIH
Public Access Policy for grant-funded research.

See our HSL guide:

• NIH Public Access Policy and You

Many Open Access journals have article processing charges. UNC has many publishing agreements that provide a discount on author fees and often include Open Access options, including the publishers and journals below.  The full list can be found on the Finding Author Support page of our Open Access & Scholarly Communications guide. 

Self-archive for free

Under many author agreements, you can still upload a preprint copy of your article to Carolina Digital Repository or PubMed Central (PMC) for free open access.

Questions about copyright and authors’ rights? Contact Anne Gilliland, UNC’s Scholarly Communications Librarian.

BMJ offers Institutional Fellowships, giving all faculty, staff and students within your institution the freedom to submit as many cases as they like as well as access to and reuse of all the published material.  UNC participates in the Institutional Fellowship program with free case report submission, at no cost to UNC faculty, staff, fellows, residents, and students.   Please contact asklib.hsl.unc.edu with your UNC contact email information to receive the UNC fellowship information for publication.

(last updated Sep 12, 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. As part of the article submission process, authors need to designate UNC-Chapel Hill’s institutional account as responsible for publication fees. In the submission system, under “Additional Information,” in the “Institutional Account” section, for the question, “Are the publication fees covered by an institutional account held with PLOS?”, select “Yes.” From the drop-down, select “University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill – IB0222." PLOS and the University Libraries will take care of the rest. There will be no charge to you or to contributing authors.

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.

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.

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.

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 Nov 10, 2023)