Publisher Agreements

Publishes Fully Open Access and Hybrid journals 

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen can publish original research articles in ACS journals open access at no cost to you through the Read and Publish Agreement. Both hybrid and fully open access titles are included. 

Instructions 

Follow the instructions from ACS to select open access. 

Your institution will be alerted of your request and, if the request is approved, your work will be published at no additional cost to you as ACS open access via a CC-BY 4.0 license and made freely available on the ACS Publications website. 

Eligible research output

Research articles 

No additional charges (e.g. page or colour charges) will apply to eligible articles published open access through the agreement. 

For further information please see the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk 

Publishes Fully Open Access and Hybrid journals

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, can publish original research articles in AIP hybrid journals open access at no cost to you through the JISC transitional Read and Publish Agreement. Fully open access journals are not included.

Instructions

Make sure you are listed as the corresponding author, both in the AIP online submission system and in your manuscript.

Use an affiliated university email address and select UoA from the institutions drop-down box.

Your article will be tagged to publish open access.

Upon acceptance of your manuscript, you will be able to choose and sign the CC BY or CC BY-NC open access license. CC BY is encouraged to allow maximum reuse and is mandated by most funders.

Eligible Open Access Output

Research and review articles

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines.

For further information please see the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes Fully Open Access journals – ACM have transitioned to become a fully open access publisher from 1 January 2026 

Corresponding authors affiliated with University of Aberdeen can publish original research articles and conference papers in ACM (Association for Computer Machinery) journals open access at no additional cost through the ACM Open Agreement.  

Eligible authors will be identified by their institutional email address. Choose the CC BY Creative Commons licence. 

Eligible research output

Research articles and conference papers. 

For further information contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk 

There is no agreement currently in place with BMC.

BMC Journals are part of the Springer Nature group. The Open Access section of the Springer Open Access Agreement will offer a 15% discount on the APC. The APC in open access journals is not covered by the agreement or the institution.

Please ensure that funds are available to cover the APC before submitting an article. The Open Research team can advise on accessing the block grant for authors in receipt of UKRI, Wellcome or BHF research grants.

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid Journals

If you are a corresponding author affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, you can publish original research articles in all Brill journals open access at no cost to you through the JISC transitional Read and Publish Agreement. Both hybrid and fully open access titles are included. 

DeGruyterBrill titles are not included in the agreement.

Instructions

Submit your article to your journal contact at Brill with the request to publish in Open Access and indicate that you are an author affiliated to University of Aberdeen. Once accepted the article will be published in Open Access right away and free of charge.

If you submit your article through Editorial Manager, you will be asked during the submission process whether you are eligible for the agreement. Once accepted, the article will be published in Open Access right away and free of charge.

Eligible Research Output

Research articles, review articles and conference papers.

Charges other than the article process charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines.

For more information please visit the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals 

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, can publish original research articles in participating CUP journals open access at no cost to you through the Open Research Agreement. Both hybrid and fully open access titles are included. 

Instructions 

Use your university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission. 

Eligible research output

Research Articles, Review Articles, Rapid Communications (RRR), Brief Report, and Case Reports  

Charges other than the article process charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines. 

For further information please visit the publisher webpages  or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk 

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, can publish original research articles in Genes & Development, Genome Research, RNA, Learning & Memory open access at no cost to you through our agreement.

We also have read access to all of the journals, including the two review and one methods journals: CSH Perspectives in Biology, CSH Perspectives in Medicine, CSH Protocols

Instructions

Please use an affiliated university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission.

See the “Information for Authors” link at each journal homepage. If your article is accepted for publication, you will then be informed of your Open Access publishing options.

Eligible research output

Original research articles

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines. See the publisher website for more information or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, can publish original research articles in Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open, open access at no cost to you through the JISC transitional Read and Publish Agreement. 

Instructions

The affiliation of the corresponding author is used to determine eligibility for discounted or waived article processing charges so please ensure that the corresponding author is agreed before submission.

When providing your contact details, include your institutional email address, as well as the full name and address of your institution, including country.

• If you are submitting an article to Development, Journal of Cell Science or Journal of Experimental Biology, please complete the “Open Access” submission question by selecting “Read & Publish agreement”. (Please note: This step is not required for Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.)
• There will be no Open Access publication charge on the final submission page. Please contact the Editorial Office if you are eligible for a discount that has not been applied.

Eligible Research Output

Original research articles

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines.

For further information please visit the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes fully Open Access journals

Corresponding authors at the University of Aberdeen have the opportunity to publish open access with Copernicus, a not-for-profit, fully open access publisher, through the university’s prepay account.

This account is available to all authors, not just those with research funding; however, funds are limited and subject to availability.

For further details or to check funding availability, please contact the Open Research Team before submitting your paper.

Instructions

Copernicus will identify eligible authors and allow them to select the institutional agreement when they register their manuscript. Outputs will be published open access under the CC BY Creative Commons licence.

Eligible Research Output

•    Each author may be lead author on one paper funded through the prepay account.
•    UKRI-funded authors should be PI or corresponding author and must seek approval from their Director of Research (DoR) to access the block grant as per standard practice.
For further information view journal information on the publisher website or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals 

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, can publish original research articles in participating Elsevier hybrid journals open access at no cost to you through the Read and Publish agreement. 

Fully open access titles are not covered by the agreement. Where funds are available for APCs in fully open access titles a 15% discount will apply. Select University of Aberdeen as your affiliated institution when submitting your article for publication. 

Instructions 

Use an affiliated university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission. 

During the submission process, the system will present you with personalised publishing options including any agreement or offer that you may be eligible for. You can indicate your publishing choice during submission, but you are not required to finalize your choice until after acceptance. 

Once the journal accepts your article, you will receive an email containing a link to the “post acceptance author journey”. 

You will be asked to review your affiliation and funder details. Based on this information, you will see personalised publishing options including the option to publish under the agreement. 

Eligible research output

Research articles, review articles, case reports, data in brief, microarticle, original software publication, protocol, replication study, short communication, short survey, video article, practice guideline, registered report article, registered report protocol. Some exceptions apply for the Lancet and Cell Press. 

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines. 

For further information please visit the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk 

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals 

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen can publish original research articles in the Geological Society of London's Lyell Collection titles open access at no cost to you through the Read and Publish Agreement. 

The following titles are included

Journal of the Geological Society 

Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology & Hydrogeology 

Petroleum Geoscience 

Geoenergy 

Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis 

Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 

Scottish Journal of Geology 

Earth Science, Systems and Society (ES3) 

GeoHorizons  

Special Publications 

Memoirs 

Engineering Geology Special Publications 

Energy Geoscience Conference Series 

Instructions 

Use an affiliated university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission. 

Eligible research output

Applies to all output types. 

For further information please visit the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk 

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, can publish original research articles in eligible hybrid IoP journals open access at no cost to you. 

Instructions

Use an affiliated university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission.

IoP will automatically identify qualifying articles and inform authors of their inclusion.

Eligible Research Output

Research articles, reviews, letters, papers, reviews, and special issue articles.

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines.

For further information please view the publisher webpages or contact open research@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid Journals

If you are a corresponding author affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, you can publish original research articles in participating Karger journals open access at no cost to you through the SHEDL transitional Read and Publish Agreement. Our agreement provides full coverage of APC and Authors' Choice^TM publication fee, including all additional publication costs for articles published in full Open Access and Hybrid journals.

Instructions

Please use an affiliated university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission.

Include information on grants in the Funding Sources section of the paper.

For further information please view the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, can publish original research articles in all Microbiology Society of London journals open access at no cost to you through the Publish and Read Agreement. Both hybrid and fully open access titles are included.

Instructions

Use an affiliated university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission.

Include information on grants in the Funding Sources section of the paper.

Eligible Research Output

All peer-reviewed articles

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines.

For further information please view the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Not-for-Profit Library Publishing Partnership supporting Diamond Open Access

The University of Aberdeen supports The Open Library of Humanities (OLH), a charitable organisation dedicated to publishing open access scholarship with no author-facing article processing charges (APCs). OLH is funded by an international consortium of libraries with the aim of making scholarly publishing fairer, more accessible, and rigorously preserved for the digital future.

The OLH publishing platform supports academic journals from across the humanities disciplines, as well as hosting its own multidisciplinary journal. Free to publish under a Creative Commons licence, visit the OLH webpages for more details. 

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid Journals

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen can publish original research articles in participating OUP journals open access at no cost to you through the Read and Publish Agreement. Both hybrid and fully open access titles are included.

Instructions

See this handy guide for authors from OUP

Eligible research output:

Research article, review article, brief report, or case report.

Articles in supplements are not eligible.

Charges other than the article process charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines.

For further information and to see participating journals please view the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

PLoS (Public Library of Science)

Publishes fully Open Access Journals only

The PLOS Agreement expired December 2023.

Articles submitted to any of the PLOS journals will incur an article processing charge which will be payable by the author.

Information on current fees is available here.

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals 

Corresponding authors affiliated to the University of Aberdeen can publish open access in any of the Rockefeller University Press three hybrid journals (Journal of Cell Biology, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of General Physiology) at no cost to you. Eligible authors will be automatically identified by the journal. 

Instructions 

Use an affiliated university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission. 

Include information on grants in the Funding Sources section of the paper. 

Eligible research output

Article types covered: Article, Brief Definitive Report, Communication, Hypothesis, Methods and Approaches, Report, Technical Advances and Resources, Tools   

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines. 

For further information please visit the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk 

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals

Corresponding authors affiliated to the University of Aberdeen, can publish open access in Royal Society journals at no cost to you through the Read and Publish Agreement. Hybrid and fully open access titles are included.

Instructions

Use an affiliated university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission.

Select the 'Read & Publish' option.

Eligible Research Output

All article types

For further information please view the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes fully Open access and Hybrid journals

Corresponding authors affiliated to the University of Aberdeen can publish open access in Royal Society of Chemistry hybrid journals at no cost to you through the JISC transitional Read and Publish agreement.

Eligible Research Output

All peer reviewed article types: research articles, communications, and reviews.

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines.

For further information please view the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Sage

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid Journals

If you are a corresponding author affiliated with the University of Aberdeen, you can publish open access in 900+ subscription journals in the current SAGE Premier package, as well as in the IMechE Journal Collection and the Royal Society of Medicine Collection, which offer hybrid open access publishing (SAGE Choice) at no cost to you through the JISC transitional Read and Publish Agreement. Fully open access journals are not included.

Instructions

Please use an affiliated university email address and indicate your affiliation with the University of Aberdeen during submission.

Authors in subscription journals do not need to take any further action to benefit from this offer. As soon an institution is set up as part of the agreement, SAGE will contact all eligible authors to inform them of the Open Access agreement with SHEDL and to invite them to the SAGE Open Access Portal to take up the offer as soon as their accepted article has been received into SAGE's Production department.

Author's publishing in fully open access journals will be eligible for a 20% discount on the APC.

Eligible research output:

Original research article and review article

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines.

For further information please visit the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals 

The Springer website has information on eligible titles under the Springer Portfolio and the Nature Portfolio

Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen can publish open access at no cost to you under the Springer Nature Read and Publish Agreement. The agreement offers unlimited publishing in the hybrid Springer Portfolio journals. 

Fully open access titles are not covered by the agreement. 

Instructions 

Use your university email address and select University of Aberdeen as your affiliated institution when submitting your article for publication. 

Springer Portfolio Journals 

Eligible research output: Original Paper, Review Paper, Brief Communication and Continuing Education 

Nature Portfolio Journals 

Eligible research output: Original Paper, Analysis, Article, Letter, Brief Communication, Registered Report, Resource, Technical report 

Fully Open Access Journals 

To publish in fully open access titles such as Scientific Reports, Nature Communications, BMC journals, etc. will incur an article processing charge (APC). 

A 15% discount will be offered on the APC. The APC is not covered by the agreement or the institution. 

Make sure you have funds available to pay when submitting to a Springer open access journal that requires an APC. 

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines. Upon request eligible authors may have their colour charges waived. 

For further information please visit the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk 

Fully open access journals are not covered by the Springer Agreement. A 15% discount on the APC will be offered to University of Aberdeen affiliated corresponding authors. 

Publishing in a fully open access Springer journal will require payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC). 

UKRI, Wellcome and British Heart Foundation funded authors may be eligible to access the block grant. This is dependent on funds being available. Please contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk with your research grant reference number and the journal title to check funds are available before submitting to a fully open access journal. 

Authors who are not eligible for block grant funding will be liable for the APC. Please check with your school that funds are available before submission to a fully open access journal. 

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines. Upon request eligible authors may have their colour charges waived. 

For further information please contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk 

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals

Corresponding authors affiliated to the University of Aberdeen can publish original research articles open access in Taylor & Francis hybrid journals, all fully OA journals (except Dove Medical Press titles), F1000 and Routledge Open Research at no cost to you through the Read and Publish Agreement.

Instructions

Use an affiliated university email address and select University of Aberdeen as your affiliated institution when submitting your article for publication.

Eligible Research Output

Research type articles, including but not limited to, review articles, article commentary, discussion, report, essay, note, brief report, case report, rapid communication. Other types of paper, such as Editorials, Announcements, and Book Reviews, are not covered by this agreement. View a full list of article types and coverage on the T&F webpages. 

For F1000 Research and Routledge Open Research, the following are covered: including but not limited to Research Articles, Method Articles, Antibody Validation Articles, Reviews, Systematic Reviews, Clinical Practice Articles, Case Reports, Opinion Articles.

Charges other than the article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines. Apply to T&F to have these charges waived. A small number of journals have submission fees which are not covered by the agreement. 

For further information please visit the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Publishes fully Open Access and Hybrid journals

Responsible corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Aberdeen can publish in any of Wiley's fully gold Open Access or Wiley's hybrid, OnlineOpen journals at no cost to you through the Read and Publish Agreement.

Publishing in the hybrid Onlineopen journals is unlimited.

Should the cap be reached on the fully gold Open Access fund then there will be updates from the Open Research Team. 

Instructions

Use an affiliated university email address and select University of Aberdeen as your affiliated institution when submitting your article for publication.

Eligible Research Output

Research / Review / Case Reports

Charges other than the author article processing charge (APC) may still apply, please refer to individual journal submission guidelines.

For further information please view the publisher webpages or contact openresearch@abdn.ac.uk