Your funder’s open access policy is usually specified in the grant agreement and on their website.

Our Research Funders page provides an overview of the most common funders. You can also visit the SHERPA Juliet website to learn about funders’ policies and requirements on open access, publication, and data archiving.

If unsure, please get in touch with the open-access publishing team.

Link to this FAQ: https://umlib.nl/oa-faq-3

Maastricht University and the University Library have no budget for individual article APCs. Publishing costs, including article processing charges (APC) to publish open-access (OA), are considered research costs and must be settled with your research budget, your faculty, a personal discount (waiver) from the publisher, or otherwise.

The University Library has arranged (prepaid) discount arrangements with academic publishers to enable UM and MUMC+ researchers to publish articles free of charge (or with a discount) in high-quality journals.

Corresponding authors are responsible for covering APCs of publications outside agreements. Please check your research or faculty budget before you engage in a publishing contract where payments are due.

• Check our Publishing deals and discounts page for an overview of our APC discount arrangements.
• Check our Open Access Journal Browser for discounts and open-access options for individual journals.

If unsure, please get in touch with the open-access publishing team.

Link to this FAQ: https://umlib.nl/oa-faq-10

To find out about an available discount for a specific journal, always check our Open Access Journal Browser.

Click on the title of a journal to open its information page detailing the APC discount. You will also find information about the publication types included in the discount deal. And information on the (imminent) end of the discount/subsidy for the given year.

Please note

1. While we strive to update the Journal Browser as soon as we receive new information, we can’t guarantee the correctness and completeness, as this can change during your publication process.
   • Check the information before submitting your manuscript and again before publishing your article.
   • Please check the journal’s website for any planned changes, such as moving to another publisher, switching to Full Open Access, or both, as these changes may impact the discount arrangements.
2. Maastricht University has no central budget for covering APC costs, only arrangements with publishers regarding discounts. If you publish Open Access in a journal outside our deals, you must settle the invoice with your research organisation. The research project funder may provide a budget for the APC.
3. If you select a hybrid journal outside our deals and can’t cover the APC, Green Open Access might be an option: publish with a subscription license (behind a paywall, not OA) and let us make your published article Green Open Access after six months. Sign up for our Taverne service once; the library will do the rest.
4. If you want to publish Gold Open Access and have no budget to cover the APC, be aware of the growing number of Diamond Open Access (DOA) journals. These (non-profit) journals do not charge APCs. For an overview of quality DOA journals, visit the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Link to this FAQ: https://umlib.nl/oa-faq-1

The total number of available discounts varies per publisher and depends on the contract, the estimated number of articles per year, and the available budget.

You can find out about this when you go to the deal information for each publisher on the Publishing Deals and Discounts page.

Always check the information about available discounts before submitting and publishing an article.

Stay updated by following us on UMployee or subscribe to our Research Support Update to receive the latest information and changes.

Link to this FAQ: https://umlib.nl/oa-faq-14

No, you need to follow the submission workflow of the selected publisher/journal to receive the discount.

Select the relevant deal on the Publishing Deals and Discounts page overview to understand a publisher’s workflow, You will find all the information about the arrangement and workflow there. Follow these instructions to receive the discount.

If you anticipate a discount not applied at check-out, do not proceed. Instead, contact the publisher. Otherwise, you will receive an invoice for your order and have to settle this invoice with your research group or faculty.

Please note that we do not have a central budget to cover your APC costs.

Link to this FAQ: https://umlib.nl/oa-faq-16

Not all article types are covered because of budgets, but this differs per publisher.

Original articles, review articles and case reports are usually covered. If you send in a different kind of publication, check the requirements.

This information about publication types is available in the Open Access Journal Browser and for each publisher in the Publishing Deals and Discounts page overview.

Stay updated by following us on UMployee or subscribe to our Research Support Update to receive the latest information and changes.

Link to this FAQ: https://umlib.nl/oa-faq-15

Please note that only UM and MUMC+ corresponding authors can claim the APC discount offered by our publisher deals.

Additionally, authors must mention UM or MUMC+ as their affiliate in the article to qualify for a discount.

For some deals, It is essential to use your UM or MUMC+ email address in your correspondence with the publisher for identification purposes. Remember that, in such cases, your UM/MUMC email must remain active during the publication process.

If you anticipate leaving UM/MUMC before publishing the article AND still wish to claim a discount, reconsider appointing a coauthor as the article’s corresponding author.

Link to this FAQ: https://umlib.nl/oa-faq-17

For this journal, we have no APC discount arrangement.

If the Journal Browser indicates that open-access support and APC costs are unknown, we do not know if the selected journal currently supports open-access publishing. This also means we have no information about any Article Processing Charges for this title.

About handling Article Processing Costs (APC)

When you select a journal for your publication outside our discount deals, you must settle the APC, if applicable and other publishing costs through your research project or faculty.

Publishing costs are considered research-related costs. For a corresponding/submitting author, the research project (leader) or the faculty is the point of contact for approval of costs, including APCs and processing of invoices.

If your publication results from publicly funded research (NWO, Horizon, etc.) APC coverage of publications in Gold OA journals is part of the research funding. Suppose APC coverage by the research group or the faculty is not an option, and the faculty has no faculty budget for research output. In that case, you might have to select another journal/publisher for your article. Or, if the selected journal is a hybrid journal, you can choose a subscription license (no APC, but not OA) and make your article (Green) open-access after publication via the library.

The University Library supports open-access publishing and tries to arrange APC discounts. However, there is no central publishing budget at UM or the library.

Please note

1. If your research has a public funder and Gold Open Access is required, then publication costs are probably budgeted. See our page about research funders.
2. If you selected a hybrid journal outside our deals and can’t cover the APC, Green Open Access might be an option: publish with a subscription license (behind a paywall, not OA) and let us make your published article Green Open Access after six months. Sign up for our Taverne service once; the library will do the rest.
3. If you want to publish Gold Open Access and have no budget to cover the APC, be aware of the growing number of Diamond Open Access (DOA) journals. These (non-profit) journals do not charge APCs. For an overview of quality DOA journals, visit the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Link to this FAQ: https://umlib.nl/oa-faq-5

In that case, we do not have an APC discount arrangement, and the corresponding (submitting) author has to settle the APC with the research budget or the faculty.

About handling Article Processing Costs (APC)

When you select a journal for your publication outside our discount deals, you must settle the APC, if applicable and other publishing costs through your research project or faculty.

Publishing costs are considered research-related costs. For a corresponding/submitting author, the research project (leader) or the faculty is the point of contact for approval of costs, including APCs and processing of invoices.

If your publication results from publicly funded research (NWO, Horizon, etc.) APC coverage of publications in Gold OA journals is part of the research funding. Suppose APC coverage by the research group or the faculty is not an option, and the faculty has no faculty budget for research output. In that case, you might have to select another journal/publisher for your article. Or, if the selected journal is a hybrid journal, you can choose a subscription license (no APC, but not OA) and make your article (Green) open-access after publication via the library.

The University Library supports open-access publishing and tries to arrange APC discounts. However, there is no central publishing budget at UM or the library.

Please note

1. If your research has a public funder and Gold Open Access is required, then publication costs are probably budgeted. See our page about research funders.
2. If you selected a hybrid journal outside our deals and can’t cover the APC, Green Open Access might be an option: publish with a subscription license (behind a paywall, not OA) and let us make your published article Green Open Access after six months. Sign up for our Taverne service once; the library will do the rest.
3. If you want to publish Gold Open Access and have no budget to cover the APC, be aware of the growing number of Diamond Open Access (DOA) journals. These (non-profit) journals do not charge APCs. For an overview of quality DOA journals, visit the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

Link to this FAQ: https://umlib.nl/oa-faq-4

When you select a journal for your publication for which the library has no discount deal available (check the Open Access Journal Browser), you must settle the APC and other publishing costs through your research organisation (i.e. project, school, faculty).

Please note

1. If your research has a public funder and Gold Open Access is required, then publication costs are probably budgeted. See our page about research funders.
2. If you selected a hybrid journal outside our deals and can’t cover the APC, Green Open Access might be an option: publish with a subscription license (behind a paywall, not OA) and let us make your published article Green Open Access after six months. Sign up for our Taverne service once; the library will do the rest.
3. If you want to publish Gold Open Access and have no budget to cover the APC, be aware of the growing number of Diamond Open Access (DOA) journals. These (non-profit) journals do not charge APCs. For an overview of quality DOA journals, visit the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

A rights retention strategy is a method used by authors to retain sufficient rights to their work, allowing them to make it available in open access without needing to pay article processing charges (APCs).

Funders and institutions often support this strategy to comply with open access mandates.

RA 2025.02.19 – Link to this FAQ: 

Article Development Charge (ADC)

The Article Development Charge (ADC) is a USD 2,500 fee introduced by the American Chemical Society (ACS) for authors who use a rights retention strategy to post their accepted manuscripts in open repositories immediately upon acceptance, without an embargo, in ACS hybrid journals.
This fee covers publishing services up to the final editorial decision.

Is the ADC common among publishers?

No, the ADC is not a standard practice across all publishers. It is specific to ACS’s approach to managing costs associated with zero-embargo green open access in their hybrid journals.

How does the ACS ADC affect open science principles?

The ADC has been criticized for potentially undermining open science principles by introducing a cost barrier for authors who want to share their work openly without an embargo.
However, it reflects ACS’s effort to sustain its publishing services while allowing immediate open access.

How can researchers navigate these publisher policies effectively?

Researchers should carefully review the journal’s policies before submitting and consider discussing potential support for such fees with their institution or funder.
Understanding the rights retention strategy and its implications can help authors make informed decisions about their publication choices.

What are the implications for authors who cannot afford the ADC?

Authors who cannot afford the ADC may need to consider alternative publication options or discuss potential support with their institution or funder. Exploring other open-access routes that do not incur such fees is also essential.
This FAQ aims to clarify the rights retention strategy and the specific case of ACS’s ADC, helping researchers navigate these policies effectively.
Be aware that our publisher deal with ACS supports open-access publishing in selected ACS journals. This means your article will be open-access at publication, and there is no need for RRS or an ADC.

RA 2025.02.19 – Link to this FAQ:

The Article Development Charge (ADC) is a USD 2,500 fee introduced by the American Chemical Society (ACS) for authors who use a rights retention strategy to post their accepted manuscripts in open repositories immediately upon acceptance, without an embargo, in ACS hybrid journals.

This fee covers publishing services up to the final editorial decision.

RA 2025.02.19 – Link to this FAQ: