Open Access
Help With Payments for Gold Open Access
Find out more about what help is available to offset the costs of Gold Open Access
What is Gold Open Access?
As described in our guide to the basics of Open Access, Gold Open Access is one way of making published outputs - like journal articles and book chapters - open access. It involves the publisher themselves making the output freely available on their own website under an open licence, allowing people to download, read and reuse the content of the published version.
Gold Open Access can be called different things by different publishers, and sometimes even a single publisher will have different ways of referring to it. For example, the publisher Springer have a set of journals that contain exclusively Gold Open Access content and this set of journals is called "SpringerOpen". In comparison, Springer also have many journals that are traditional subscription journals, but in which you can choose to make your article Gold Open Access instead - Springer refer to this method as "Springer Open Choice".
A variety of business models currently exist to facilitate Gold Open Access. In most cases, the publisher requires the author to pay a fee, which allows the publisher to make money despite not being able to sell the content to readers as they normally would. For journal articles, this fee is called an "Article Processing Charge" (APC). The costs of Gold Open Access can be very high and it is not unusual for an APC to cost upwards of £2,000. The costs of Gold Open Access for longer outputs (like book chapters or even entire monographs) can be significantly more expensive.
What support is available?
Researchers at RGU have several options for finding help with paying the costs of Gold Open Access. We therefore suggest that researchers work down the following list when considering whether to use the Gold route:
1. Check the Library's offset (or "Read and Publish") deals
RGU Library is part of several consortia that negotiate with publishers. These consortia have been able to obtain a selection of publisher deals that help to reduce the costs of Gold Open Access. A full list of the deals available to RGU authors appears later in this guide.
If your journal of preference is not covered by any of the available offset (or "Read and Publish") deals, or if the relevant deal provides only a partial reduction of costs rather than a complete waiver, move on to the next step.
2. Check whether you are eligible to publish on your funder's dedicated platform
Certain funders have dedicated open research platforms through which funded researchers can publish their work Gold Open Access at no cost. For example: Open Research Europe (for researchers funded by the European Commission); NIHR Open Research (for researchers funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research); and Health Open Research (also known as "AMRC Open Research") (for researchers funded by Parkinson's UK).
If your article does not acknowledge funding from a funder with a dedicated platform, or if you would prefer not to publish elsewhere, move on to the next step.
3. Check whether your funder will provide direct financial support
Some funders may include money to help pay for Gold Open Access when they award a research grant. Other funders may be willing to provide additional money for Gold Open Access on an individual basis. In either case, it is worth double-checking the terms and conditions of your grant to see whether your funder may be able to help you. Further information on the support offered by certain funding bodies is available in our guide on funder requirements for Open Access.
If your funder is unable to help, or if they are unable to cover the entire fee, move on to the next step.
4. Check with your department
Some Schools at RGU may be willing to contribute a small amount of money to help cover the costs of Gold Open Access, depending on departmental budgets and the amount involved. You should speak directly with your line manager or Head of School to discuss this.
If your department is unable to help, or if they are unable to cover the entire fee, move on to the next step.
5. Consider Green Open Access instead
In most cases, Gold Open Access is not essential. It is usually possible to make your work openly available via Green Open Access instead, which costs you nothing and can often still ensure that your output complies with funder requirements. More information on how the Green route works and on funder requirements for Green Open Access can be found in separate guides.
If you still want to publish through the Gold route, or if using the Green route for the specific journal/publisher you have in mind would not be compliant with your funder's requirements, then you will either need to choose a different journal/publisher, or you will need to find a way of paying for Gold Open Access yourself.
Library offset (or "Read and Publish") deals
The following deals are available to researchers at RGU as a result of negotiations by various consortia on behalf of the Library. If you have any questions about the deals, please contact the Publications Team.
Association for Computing Machinery
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. All ACM journals and conference proceedings, both hybrid and fully Gold OA. Refer to the ACM website for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. All fully peer-reviewed research articles.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2023 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After acceptance, you will be asked to complete an assignment of rights and permissions on ACM's eRights form. Choose to publish open access (i.e. granting ACM the non-exclusive right to publish your work) and select your preferred licence - we recommend CC BY.
- Other Details. Further information about the ACM OPEN model that supports this deal is available on the ACM website.
BMJ Publishing
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs for articles that acknowledge certain funding (see "Other Details" below). Articles that do not acknowledge eligible funding are not covered by this deal. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. BMJ hybrid journals and fully Gold OA journals. Refer to the BMJ website for a list of titles: under the section "Find out if you are entitled to institutional funding", select Robert Gordon University. Further information then displays, including a dropdown list of journal titles covered by this deal.
- Article Types Covered. Original articles reporting on primary research; Review articles for certain funded articles only (see "Other Details" below - applies to any of the funders listed under "UKRI").
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2025 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After acceptance, the publisher should contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used to cover the APC for your article. The publisher should automatically apply a CC BY licence in all journals.
- Other Details. This deal applies only for articles that acknowledge funding from one of the following specific funding bodies:
- Medical Charities:
- Blood Cancer UK
- British Heart Foundation
- Cancer Research UK
- Parkinson's UK
- Versus Arthritis
- UKRI:
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
- Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
- Innovate UK
- Medical Research Council (MRC)
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
- Research England
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
- UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
- Wellcome Trust
- Medical Charities:
Brill
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. All Brill journals. Refer to the Brill website to browse their available titles.
- Article Types Covered. Research articles; Review articles.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2025 - 31st December 2026.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. The publisher should automatically detect that your article is eligible to be published through this deal. Your article should then eventually be published under a CC BY licence.
- Other Details. Further information on this deal is available on the Brill website. (Note that this webpage currently reflects the previous 2023-2024 version of the deal.)
Cambridge University Press
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. Most CUP journals, both hybrid and fully Gold OA. Refer to the CUP website for a list of titles: under the section "Use our tool to find out if you are eligible for an Open Access waiver or discount", set the country as "United Kingdom", select Robert Gordon University as your institution and then select "View Your Publishing Agreement". Further information then displays, including a list of journal titles covered by this deal.
- Article Types Covered. Research articles; Review articles; Rapid communications; Brief reports; Case reports.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2021 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After acceptance, choose Open Access. When choosing a licence, we recommend selecting CC BY. The publisher should then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used for your article.
- Other Details. Further information about this deal is available on the CUP website.
Elsevier - Hybrid
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. Hybrid journals in Elsevier's "Core", "Cell Press" and "The Lancet" collections. Refer to the Elsevier website for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. Research articles; Review articles; Case reports; Data in brief; Microarticles; Original software publications; Protocols; Replication studies; Short communications; Short surveys; Video articles; Practice guidelines.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2022 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. When submitting your article, select the Open Access publishing option (this is an indication only). After acceptance, you will be asked to complete a "Rights and Access" form, which will include your final selection of publishing option - again, select Open Access. You should see that a 100% discount has been applied to the APC. When choosing a licence, we recommend selecting CC BY. Complete the rest of the "Rights and Access" form. The article should appear on the publisher's website within 48 hours. The publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used to cover the APC for your article.
- Other Details. Further information on this deal is available on the Elsevier website.
Elsevier - Fully Gold Open Access
- Offset Amount. 15% discount on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. Elsevier fully Gold OA journals. Refer to the Elsevier website for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. Research articles; Review articles; Case reports; Data in brief; Microarticles; Original software publications; Protocols; Replication studies; Short communications; Short surveys; Video articles; Practice guidelines.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2022 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After acceptance, you will be asked to complete a "Rights and Access" form. On the "Publishing Options" page of that form, you should see that a 15% discount has been applied to the APC. When choosing a licence, we recommend selecting CC BY. Complete the "Rights" and "Publishing Agreement" pages of the form. On the "Payment Details" page, provide the details of the person to be invoiced for the remaining APC. Complete the rest of the "Rights and Access" form. The article should appear on the publisher's website within 48 hours. The publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used to reduce the APC for your article.
- Other Details. Further information on this deal is available on the Elsevier website.
Karger
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. All Karger journals. Refer to the Karger website for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. All articles.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2023 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. During submission and after acceptance, ensure that you choose Open Access if publishing in a hybrid journal. We recommend that you request a CC BY licence, which may not be offered by default but which is permitted by the publisher on request. The publisher should automatically determine whether this deal can be used to cover the APC for your article.
- Other Details. Remember that you will need to actively request a CC BY licence from the publisher, especially if this is something required by your funder. See our separate guide for a summary of some common funder requirements.
Oxford University Press
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs.
- Journals Covered. Most OUP journals, both hybrid and fully Gold OA. Refer to the OUP website for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. Research articles; Review articles; Brief reports; Case reports.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2024 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. The publisher should then automatically detect that your work is eligible for using this deal and you will be routed through a process that shows you OA licensing options with no charges (we recommend choosing CC BY). You will then be guided to refer your article to this agreement - you should not need to select it or in any way opt in, in order to use this deal. A step-by-step guide for authors is available on the OUP website. The publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used for your article.
- Other Details. Further information on this deal is available on the OUP website.
Royal Society of Chemistry
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on three APCs each year. (One remaining for 2025)
- Journals Covered. RSC hybrid journals (i.e. all RSC journals except: the Chemistry Education Research and Practice journal, and those journals marked as "Gold Open Access"). Refer to the RSC website for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. All peer-reviewed article types.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2022 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. This deal should be automatically applied on a first-come, first-served basis. After acceptance, you should be offered a choice of open licences, rather than the standard licence to publish. When choosing a licence, we recommend selecting CC BY.
Sage - Sage Choice
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. Sage hybrid journals ("Sage Choice"). Refer to the Sage website for a list of titles, specifically the section referring to "subscription journals" / hybrid / Sage Choice.
- Article Types Covered. Original research papers; Review papers; Brief communications; Short reports; Case reports.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2025 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After acceptance, you will be told that you are eligible to publish open access without additional payment. Confirm that you wish to do so on the publisher's OA portal within 14 days of receiving the email. When choosing a licence, we recommend selecting CC BY. (Note that Sage may offer CC BY-NC by default, but you can contact them to request CC BY instead.)
Sage - Sage Pure Gold
- Offset Amount. 20% discount on most APCs and a higher discount on APCs for a small selection of journals. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. Most Sage fully OA journals ("Sage Pure Gold"). Refer to the Sage website for a list of titles, specifically the section referring to "Gold open access journals". The list also notes where the available discount is higher than 20%.
- Article Types Covered. Original research papers; Review papers; Brief communications; Short reports; Case reports.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2025 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. Make sure you have the funds to pay the discounted APC before submitting your article to the journal. To be eligible for the discount, the corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After acceptance, you will be told that you are eligible for a discount on the normal APC. Confirm the OA publishing agreement on the publisher's OA portal. When choosing a licence, we recommend selecting CC BY. (Note that Sage may offer CC BY-NC by default, but you can contact them to request CC BY instead.)
SCOAP3
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. SCOAP3 is a consortium of libraries and other institutions, which has set up a discipline-based agreement with the publishers of a small number of journals. The journals in question publish research in high energy physics. Refer to the SCOAP3 website for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. All article types.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2025 - 31st December 2027.
- Workflow. Submit your work to the journal as normal. It should automatically be published open access after acceptance, regardless of your institutional affiliation.
- Other Details. The SCOAP3 deal covers all articles in some journals, but only high energy physics articles in other journals. This normally depends on each journal's scope. Further details on this are available as an FAQ on the SCOAP3 website (refer to the question titled, "Are all articles in a SCOAP3 journal automatically made Open Access?").
Springer - Nature Hybrid
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. A national limit applies to the number of articles that can be covered by this deal each year. This entry will be updated if that limit is reached within a given year.
- Journals Covered. Nature hybrid research journals. Refer to the Springer website, under the "Publishing open access in a Nature Portfolio journal" section, for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. Research articles, Original papers (also referred to as Analyses, Articles, Letters, Brief communications, Registered reports, Resources, or Technical reports).
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2023 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After acceptance, you will be told that you are eligible to publish open access without additional payment. After you have signed the licence, the publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used to cover the APC for your article.
Springer - Springer Open Choice
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. Springer hybrid journals ("Springer Open Choice"), including certain journals on Nature.com. Refer to the Springer website, under the "Publishing open access in a Springer Portfolio journal" section, for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. Original papers (also referred to as Original research, Original articles, or Research papers); Review papers; Brief communications; Continuing education.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2023 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After acceptance, you will be told that you are eligible to publish open access without additional payment. After you have signed the licence, the publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used to cover the APC for your article.
Springer - Fully Open Access
- Offset Amount. 15% discount on all APCs. No limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal.
- Journals Covered. Springer Nature fully OA journals. Refer to the Springer website, under the "Publishing in a fully open access journal" section, for a list of titles.
- Article Types Covered. For Nature journals: Research articles, Original papers (also referred to as Analyses, Articles, Letters, Brief communications, Registered reports, Resources, or Technical reports). For Springer journals: Original papers (also referred to as Original research, Original articles, or Research papers); Review papers; Brief communications; Continuing education.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2023 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. Make sure you have the funds to pay the discounted APC before submitting your article to the journal. To be eligible for the discount, the corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After acceptance, you will be told that you are eligible for a discount on the normal APC. Confirm the OA publishing agreement on the publisher's OA portal. The publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used to reduce the APC for your article.
Taylor and Francis
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs. There is a national limit on the number of articles that can be covered by this deal in any given year. This entry will be updated if the limit is reached within a given year.
- Journals Covered.
- Taylor and Francis hybrid ("Open Select") journals: see the Taylor and Francis website for a list of hybrid journals.
- Taylor and Francis fully OA journals: see the Taylor and Francis website for a list of fully OA journals. PLEASE NOTE: EXCLUDES DOVE MEDICAL PRESS JOURNALS. Dove Medical Press titles are misleadingly included in the list of fully OA journals supplied by Taylor and Francis, but are not actually covered by our offset deal.
- The Routledge Open Research platform.
- The F1000Research open research platform.
- Article Types Covered. For Taylor and Francis journals: Research articles only. For Routledge Open Research and F1000Research: Research articles; Method articles; Antibody Validation articles; Reviews; Systematic reviews; Clinical practice articles; Case reports; Opinion articles.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2024 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow. For all journals and platforms, the corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. Additionally:
- For Taylor and Francis hybrid ("Open Select") journals: After your article is accepted, the publisher will ask you to select and sign a publishing licence (we recommend choosing CC BY). Once you have done this, the publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used for your article.
- For Taylor and Francis fully OA journals: You should be notified during the submission process that your article is potentially eligible to be covered by this deal. After your article is accepted, the publisher will ask you to select and sign a publishing licence (we recommend choosing CC BY). Once you have done this, the publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used for your article.
- For the Routledge Open Research and the F1000Research platforms: After your article is accepted, the publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used for your article.
- Other Details. Further details about the agreement are available on the Taylor and Francis website.
Wiley and Hindawi
- Offset Amount. Complete waiver on all APCs in Wiley's hybrid journals. Complete waiver on APCs in Wiley's fully OA journals and Hindawi journals (all of which are fully OA) up to a national limit each year; after the limit has been reached, articles in fully OA journals will instead receive only a 15% discount on the usual APC. This entry will be updated if the limit is reached in any given year.
- Journals Covered. All Wiley hybrid ("OnlineOpen") and fully Gold OA ("Wiley Open Access") journals, and all Hindawi journals. Refer to the Wiley website for links to lists of the titles that are covered.
- Article Types Covered. Primary research articles; Review articles.
- Deal Duration. 1st January 2024 - 31st December 2025.
- Workflow - Wiley hybrid journals. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. After your article is accepted, you will be asked to log into Wiley's Author Services and select "Yes, make my article open access". (If you are asked to choose a licence, we recommend CC BY). The publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used. See Wiley's hybrid workflow guide for more information.
- Workflow - Wiley fully OA journals. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. On submitting your article, select the payment option "The Corresponding Author's institution/funder has an agreement with Wiley". (If you are asked to choose a licence, we recommend CC BY). After your article is accepted, the publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used.
- Workflow - Hindawi journals. The corresponding author must be affiliated with RGU, selecting RGU as their primary affiliation and using their RGU email address when communicating with the publisher. On submitting your article, please agree to the APC. (If you are asked to choose a licence, we recommend CC BY). The publisher will then contact the Publications Team to confirm that this deal can be used. See Hindawi's workflow guide for more information.
- Other Details. Some journals still have page and colour charges, which are not covered by this agreement. Further details about the agreement are available on the Wiley website.