Scientific journals usually charge an Article/Author Processing Charge (APC) or a Book Processing Charge (BPC) from the author of an article/book to cover the costs of open publishing.
UEF has outlined that the costs of publishing must always be included in the project’s funding applications. If the APC fees have not been approved as costs in the funding of the project, it is under certain prerequisites possible to pay the APC from the UEF’s funds.
There are also other APC benefits available for UEF authors, regardless of the funding. These benefits vary depending on the publisher. In most cases, the benefit is either a discount on the APC or a possibility to publish an article without the APC when it is published open access in a scientific journal.
UEF also supports open publishing via different Open Access Programs.
Paying the APC from UEF's funds
UEF provides financial support for Open Access publishing in cases where the funder does not accept publishing fees as eligible costs of the project. The costs of Open Access publishing must be included already in the funding application and the project’s budget must be used to cover these costs whenever the funder permits this. The units are responsible for the payment of the financial support in accordance with the faculty’s practices. (Rector’s decision no. 13/2021, UEF dno. 247/02.02/2021)
Please check your faculty’s APC practices from your unit.
Moreover, even if the above-mentioned prerequisites are not met, there are various APC benefits available from publishers.
APC benefits from publishers
FinELib consortium negotiates e-resource license agreements for Finnish scientific communities. Some of these license agreements contain an Open Access element, i.e. an APC benefit for the duration of the agreement. In most cases, this means either a discount on the APC or a possibility to publish an article without the APC when it is published open access in a scientific journal. Depending on the publisher, the included journals are hybrid and/or gold OA journals. Each publisher has predefined the journals that contain the APC benefit, the extent of the benefits and how they are calculated varies. In addition, the process of applying for the APC benefit varies with different publishers.
Additionally, we are participating in the Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) that enables an MDPI article processing charge discount.
At the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital, the corresponding authors are entitled for the APC benefit. If the APC fees have not been approved as costs in the funding of the project, it is under certain prerequisites possible to pay the APC from UEF’s funds.
You can check the Publication Forum ratings for journals included in the agreements at the Publication Forum portal).
At the moment, we have APC benefits included in the licensing agreements with the following publishers:
- researchers get a 15% discount when publishing in Science Advances, journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- the agreement is valid 9.12.2022–1.12.2024 (article has been accepted during agreement period)
- the discount is applied after the article has been accepted for publication
- detailed instructions on how to apply for the discount (on FinELib pages)
- licensing agreement valid 2021-2023 (article is accepted between 1.1.2021-31.12.2023
- articles can be published open access for free, i.e. without the APC
- for peer-reviewed journal articles only
- using an institutional email address is recommended when submitting an article
- there is a limited amount of open access articles included into the license agreement. If all of them have been published under agreement by the time your article is accepted, you will automatically have the right to publish your article open access yourself through ACS's other options (in that case you have to pay the APC yourself).
- agreement includes both hybrid journals and OA journals
NB! Alterations to the lists are possible during the agreement period. - see the up-to-date lists of journals and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
- licensing agreement valid 2022-2024 (article is accepted between 1.7.2022–31.12.2024)
- agreement includes ACM journals, magazines and conference proceedings
- articles can be published open access for free, i.e. without the APC
- use your institutional (university’s or hospital’s) email address in the submitting process
- free of charge OA publishing is applied for when the article has been approved for publishing
- see the up-to-date list of titles and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
NB! The 2023 article quota for Cambridge University Press journals has been reached.
- licensing agreement is valid 2022-2024 (article is accepted between 1.1.2022-31.12.2024)
- agreement includes hybrid and OA journals
- articles can be published open access free of charge
- the agreement includes the following article types: research articles, review articles, rapid communications, brief reports, case reports
- use your institutional email address in the submitting process
- Open Access publishing is chosen in the publishing agreement
- there is a limited amount of open access articles included into the license agreement annually
- list of journals applicable for publishing without an APC fee
- instructions are available also on publisher's web pages
- licensing agreement valid 2022-2024 (article is accepted between 1.1.2022-31.12.2024)
- articles can be published open access free of charge
- free of charge OA publishing is applied for when the article has been approved for publishing
- there is a limited amount of open access articles included into the license agreement
- see the up-to-date list of journals and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
- licensing agreement is valid in 2023 (article is accepted between 1.1.-31.12.2023)
- agreement includes hybrid journals
- articles are published using CC BY license
- articles are published open access for free automatically (an institutional email address must be used in the submitting process)
- there is a limited amount of open access articles included into the license agreement (when the limit has been reached, authors can either finance the open access publication themselves or publish the article behind a paywall)
- list of hybrid journals applicable for publishing without an APC fee
- the assumption is that you want to publish the article open access. If that is not the case, please complete the publication process and then contact the library where the open access publishing process will be stopped.
- licensing agreement valid 2021-2023 (article is accepted between 1.1.2021-31.12.2023)
- articles can be published open access free of charge
- includes hybrid journals
- free of charge OA publishing is applied for when the article has been approved for publishing
- detailed instructions on how to publish an open access article
- list of hybrid journals included in the agreement
- licensing agreement valid 2021-2023 (article is accepted between 1.1.2021-31.12.2022)
- articles can be published with a free open access using vouchers
- vouchers can be applied for when submitting the manuscript, and an institutional email address must be used in the submitting process
- includes hybrid journals and two OA journals (International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management + Mental Illness)
- see the up-to-date list of journals and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
NB! The 2023 article quota for IEEE journals has been reached.
- licensing agreement valid 2021-2023 (article is accepted between 1.1.2021-31.12.2023)
- article can be published open access without article processing charge (APC)
- agreement covers IEEE’s hybrid journals and Full OA journals
- article must be peer-reviewed
- use an institutional email address in the submitting process
- there is a limited amount of free open access articles
- see the up-to-date list of journals and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
- agreement is valid 2022-2024 (article is accepted for publication between 1.1.2022-31.12.2024)
- articles can be published open access free of charge
- when submitting the article, please select “Eligible” under the Open Access Agreements: Eligibility Declarations on Details tab of the publisher’s system and write “University of Eastern Finland” or “Kuopio University Hospital” in the field below that
- list of journals applicable for publishing without an APC fee
- detailed instructions on how to submit your article and choose the Open Access Agreement
- 10 per cent discount on APC list prices (the APC rate varies between journals)
- 15 per cent discount on language editing services
- all included journals are OA journals
- the discounted APC rate is applied for when submitting the manuscript for the publisher in the Submission System, and this demands using either a UEF or a KUH e-mail address
- Article Processing Charges for journals (undiscounted rates)
NB! The article quota for Nature Research agreement has already been met.
- licensing agreement valid 1.6.2022–31.12.2024 (article is accepted during the agreement term).
- articles are published open access for free, i.e. without the APC
- once your article has been accepted for publication, you will receive a link to Springer’s My Publication system where you choose the UEF affiliation.
- includes hybrid journals only
- see the up-to-date list of journals, eligible article types and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
- the assumption is that you want to publish the article open access. If that is not the case, please complete the My Publication process and then contact the library where the open access publishing process will be stopped.
- licensing agreement valid 2021-2023 (article has been received into production during 1.1.2021-31.12.2023)
- articles can be published open access free of charge
- for peer-reviewed articles only
- includes hybrid journals
- use an institutional email address in the submitting process
- see the up-to-date list of journals and more detailed instructions (on FinELib pages)
- detailed instructions on how to publish an open access article (on OUP pages)
- licensing agreement valid 2022-2023 (article is accepted between 1.1.2022 – 31.12.2023)
- articles are published open access for free, i.e. without the APC in RSC's hybrid journals
- articles can be published with a 15 % discount on APCs in RSC’s Gold OA journals
- those entitled to the discount are identified by the institutional (university’s or hospital’s) email address so it must be used in the submitting process
- see the up-to-date list of journals and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
- licensing agreement valid 2023-2024 (article is accepted between 1.1.2023 - 31.12.2024)
- article can be published for free of charge in SAGE’s hybrid journals
- article can be published with a 20% discount on APCs in SAGE’s Gold OA journals
- the APC benefit is applied for when the article has been approved for publishing
- see the up-to-date lists of journals and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
- licensing agreement valid 1.1.2021-31.12.2023 (article is accepted during the agreement term).
- articles are published open access for free, i.e. without the APC
- once your article has been accepted for publication, you will receive a link to Springer’s My Publication system where you choose the UEF affiliation.
- includes only hybrid journals
- see the up-to-date list of journals and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
- the assumption is that you want to publish the article open access. If that is not the case, please complete the My Publication process and then contact the library where the open access publishing process will be stopped.
- licensing agreement valid 2023-2024 (article is accepted between 1.1.2023-31.12.2024)
- articles can be published open access free of charge
- includes Open Select hybrid journals in Social Sciences & Humanities and Science & Technology fields and the OA journal Annals of Medicine
- free of charge OA publishing is applied for when the article has been approved for publishing
- to make use of the benefit, please select "Itä-Suomen yliopisto" without more detailed campus, department or faculty information as your organization in Taylor & Francis' system
- there is a limited amount of open access articles included into the license agreement annually (when the limit has been reached, authors can either finance the open access publication themselves or publish the article behind a paywall)
- see the up-to-date list of journals and more detailed instructions on FinELib pages
- licensing agreement valid 2023-2024 (article is accepted between 1.1.2023–31.12.2024)
- articles are published open access for free, i.e. without the APC; the type of your article either primary research article or review article
- agreement covers Wiley’s Full OA journals and hybrid journals
- OA benefit is applied when submitting the manuscript (Full OA journals) or when the article has been approved for publishing (hybrid journals)
- there is a limited amount of open access articles included into the license agreement annually
- see the up-to-date list of journals and more detailed instructions (on FinELib pages)
- detailed instructions on how to publish an open access article (on Wiley pages)
- licensing agreement valid 2023-2024 (article is accepted between 31.12.2022-31.12.2024)
- articles can be published open access for free, i.e. without the APC
- when submitting your manuscript, select your institution name and insert your institutional email address in the system (if it's not already there). Choose open access option by selecting "Yes" in the questionnaire.
- free of charge OA publishing is applied for when the article has been approved for publishing
- there is a limited amount of open access articles included into the license agreement. If all of them have been published under agreement by the time your article is accepted, you will need to cover the costs of open access publishing yourself.
- includes both hybrid journals and OA journals
- see the up-to-date list of journals and more detailed instructions (on FinELib pages)
UEF memberships in OA publishing programs
University of Eastern Finland wants to promote open publishing, and supports several models and initiatives. Work is coordinated by library.
ArXiv is an open access preprint repository for, i.a., physics, mathematics, and computer science. UEF is funding the service through the FinELib consortium.
DOAB (Directory of Open Access Books) is a digital directory of peer-reviewed Open Access books and Open Access book publishers.
OAPEN Library (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) is a repository of freely accessible academic books.
UEF is funding these services through the FinELib consortium.
DOAJ is a comprehensive directory of international open access scientific journals available online. UEF is funding the service through the FinELib consortium.
DSpace is one of the most widely adopted open-source repository software in the world for managing research and scholarly materials across all disciplines, and cultural heritage materials of all types, with a focus on open access, preservation, and storage. UEF is a funding member of the service through the FinELib consortium.
Knowledge Unlatched (KU) is a project that publishes open access books with the help of funds from the library consortium. KU does not charge article processing charges.
UEF supports the publication of the Language Science Press book collection within the KU consortium. In 2021–2023, the Language Science Press will publish 30 open access books each year.
UEF is part of the OA publisher MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) membership programme. The membership grants researchers from the University of Eastern Finland a 10% discount on APC fees.
Open Book Publishers (OBP) is an independent academic publisher. Members of our university community are granted the following benefits, among others:
- discounts on printed books
- customised editions
- free-of-charge use of all e-versions of the books
- book downloads without being prompted to donate
Open Library of Humanities (OLH) is a non-profit academic publisher publishing OA journals. OLH does not charge any article processing charges, but publishing is funded through consortium membership fees.
PKP (Public Knowledge Project) is a multi-university initiative developing (free) open source software and conducting research to improve the quality and reach of scholarly publishing. UEF is funding the service through the FinELib consortium.
Sherpa / Romeo service contains publishers’ OA policies by journal (what may be recorded in publication archives, what are the authors’ rights). UEF is funding the service through the FinELib consortium.
SPARC Europe is an alliance of European research institutions and libraries. It aims at promoting competition in the publishing industry and encouraging the emergence of new cost models (e.g. Open Access). UEF is funding the service through the FinELib consortium.
For more information
Questions related to APC fees and benefits: please contact apcfees@uef.fi.
Questions related to invoices and payments: please contact the faculty’s financial services or the financial secretaries of the department/unit.
