Penny Lochner
Collections Strategies Librarian
pennylochner@muhlenberg.edu
Kelly Cannon
Scholarly Communication Librarian
kellycannon@muhlenberg.edu
Trexler Library has agreements with the following publishers to cover the article processing charge (APC) for most or all of each publisher's journals. Coverage is available for Muhlenberg corresponding authors and no additional co-author fees will be issued. Be sure to check publisher details below to determine which journals are covered. Contact Penny Lochner or your librarian liaison with any questions.
If your article is accepted for publication during 2023-2025 and you are the corresponding author, the article publication charge will be covered. Additional authors for the article do not pay any fees. Muhlenberg's ACS agreement covers APC's for all journals whether fully Open Access or Hybrid. The corresponding author does not need to be the primary author. Please confirm with the co-authors and reach out to rachelhamelers@muhlenberg.edu or pennylochner@muhlenberg.edu. The current agreement applies to articles accepted Jan. 2023 through Dec. 2025.
If an article is accepted for publication in an Elsevier Hybrid journal 2025-2027, the article publication fee will be covered for a Muhlenberg College corresponding author. Additional authors/co-authors do not pay any fees. Muhlenberg's agreement with Elsevier applies to articles accepted for publication Jan. 2025 through Dec. 2027.
For an article accepted 2024-2027, the article publication charge will be covered for Muhlenberg corresponding authors to publish the article Open Access in Hybrid journals under these imprints: Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Adis, and Springer Nature Academic (not Nature Portfolio). The current agreement applies to articles accepted for publication Jan. 2024 through Dec. 2027. Check the list linked below for eligible journals.
Muhlenberg faculty authors may apply for a Daniel J. and Carol Shiner Wilson Grant to assist with the completion of a significant work of scholarly activity that may include, for example, charges for publication.
Opportunities exist to publish your work open access without the added burden of seeking coverage for an article or book processing charge (APC or BPC). Publishers in collaboration with consortia, libraries, and other agencies have been experimenting with a variety of alternative funding models. Check the following resources to help you locate fee-free journals.
Directory of Open Access Journals - DOAJ includes a filter to limit your search to "journals without fees". DOAJ does not include all OA journals that are fee-free.
Subscribe to Open Journals (S2O) - this list includes OA journals funded under the S2O model. Journals using the S2O model are not in DOAJ at this time.
Trexler Library supports a variety of Open Access publishing initiatives and considers new models as they arise. Below are models supported under the library budget and the programs or publishers supported do not charge author fees.
Anything that is published Open Access will be free to read. As an author, it is important to understand the terms under which your work is published and the restrictions on its reuse and sharing.
Gold OA refers to content that is published open access on the publisher's website. The content is typically licensed for sharing and reuse via a Creative Commons license. Publishers use a variety of funding models to support gold open access publication.
A hybrid publication (usually a journal or book) includes a mixture of paid access articles/chapters and open access articles/chapters. A hybrid publication gives the author the opportunity to publish their article/chapter under the paid access model or under the open access model. Publishing open access in a hybrid publication is funded by an article or book chapter publishing charge (APC/BPC). The article/chapter publishing cost is usually covered with grant funds, institutional support, a waiver, or the author's personal funds. If the author publishes under the paid-access model, the author still could consider the green open access option. However the author should ask the publisher about self-archiving rights (more info: making an agreement with your publisher).
The green path to open refers to an author self-archiving their published article or chapter in an open access repository. Whether originally published open access or behind a paywall, articles and chapters may potentially be self-archived. The author's agreement with the publisher must permit self-archiving. (For more info go to Signing an agreement with your publisher.) Examples of open access repositories include Muhlenberg College Digital Repository and arXiv.
S2O is an OA publication funding model that converts subscription-funded publications to open access publications. The model avoids publication fees for authors. Subscription fees are applied toward publishing content open access rather than pay-to-read. The publisher commits to opening access when subscription payments meet predetermined funding targets. Click here for addition information about the S2O model. Examples: List of available S2O Journals.