The news

Last month, we notified you that the Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) APC discount quota was nearing its limit (early October). Today, we have another critical update for authors: we expect to reach the 2024 maximum (cap) for free-of-charge open-access publishing in Springer journals by the third week of October.

Suppose your manuscript is accepted after we reach the quota. In that case, you will face new challenges in making your research open access. Here’s what you need to know and how you can continue to make your research accessible.

What this means for authors

Budget exhaustion 
Once the allocated budget is fully utilised, Springer will allow you to publish your article in open access. However, you can no longer publish your accepted article open access without incurring article processing charges (APCs).

Planning 
Like with LWW, authors currently in the review process must know what will happen when Springer accepts their article for publication. Also, if you are preparing your manuscript, be aware that a new discount budget will be available for articles accepted for publication in 2025.

Alternative routes 
When the journal accepts your article for publication after the discount limit, you can still publish open-access or choose an alternative route when your research budget does not cover the APC.

Our recommendations

Early submission (general recommendation)
If you aim to publish open access without charges in one of our capped open access arrangements, plan to submit your manuscript early in the year to avoid missing this opportunity.

Alternative funding:
If your research project requires immediate open access, consider publishing your article open access and paying the APC. Explore alternative funding sources for APCs, such as your research grant or your research budget, to ensure you can continue to publish open access if the discount budget is exhausted.

  • Publishing costs are research costs, and your research budget should cover them. Consult your project or budget manager before submitting a manuscript to an open-access journal that charges APC.
  • If your research receives funding, there’s usually a budget for publishing, especially if the funder requires open access.
  • The library offers many APC discount deals, but these cover a limited number of journals and publications. Check our Open Access Journal Browser and the Publishing deals and discounts page for details.

Delayed (Green) Open Access
If your research budget can’t cover the APC and there are no contractual obligations regarding open-access publishing, consider the Taverne green open-access route. Or share the author’s version.

  • Our Springer deal covers only hybrid journals, so you can opt to publish your article with a subscription license (behind the paywall) and participate in the “You share, we take care” programme (Taverne). The University Library will share your paywalled article (published version) with the world after six months. Before opting for this route, ensure your article meets the Taverne requirements.
  • Alternatively, self-archive the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) of a paywalled article. This usually involves an embargo period, but you typically hold the copyright and can assign a CC license to the AAM. Send the AAM of your article to the Library’s Repository team, including the DOI if available.
  • Once the publisher’s embargo period expires, the library will make the AAM available in Maastricht University | MUMC+ Research Information, and your open-access version will also become available in many search engines and open-access indexes.

 

Staying informed

To stay informed about the status of the quota, regularly check the information section of selected Springer journals in the Maastricht University Open Access Journal Browser.

Researchers who want to stay informed about the status can sign up for a national ‘notify-me service’. You can use this service also to receive updates about other publishers with a maximum number of open-access publications.

 

Thanks for reading our posts and tips about academic publishing and Open Access. If you have questions about this post or want to discuss its content, see below for all contact options of the Scholarly Communications team at Maastricht University Library.

Coming up: a post about capped APC discount deals to help you plan in 2025

Ron Aardening, Scholarly Communication & Publishing.

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