UBC Library’s commitment to open access extends to institutional memberships with a variety of Open Access publishers and organizations. These memberships provide benefits to researchers at UBC, often through discounts on article submission costs for OA publishing. The Library also provides APC discounts through our negotiated license agreements direct with selected publishers and via our membership to the Canadian Knowledge Research Network. Visit cIRcle’s Submissions page to learn more about depositing your articles to UBC’s institutional repository.
The Open Access Publisher Discounts apply to current UBC faculty, students, and staff unless otherwise stated in the instructions. When submitting your article, use a UBC email address.
| Publisher | Discount | Instructions |
| American Chemical Society (ACS) | $250 USD | Discount on APCs for all ACS journals (effective July 1, 2019) Use an affiliated university email extension address and select its institution from the drop-down box. Confirm that the institutional affiliation stated in the body of the manuscript is the corresponding author’s affiliation. |
BioChemical Society | 5% | Discount on APCs for journals to which UBC subscribes. |
| BioMed Central (BMC) | 15% | Discount includes all faculty, staff, and students. Submitting from a UBC IP address will grant then membership discount automatically. If submitting from a non-UBC IP address, select UBC in the dropdown list as the affiliated institution and BMC will verify. UBC affiliated open access articles are automatically deposited to cIRcle, UBC’s institutional repository. |
| Bioscientifica | 50% | Eligible to receive a 50% discount on gold open-access option for UBC subscribed journals. Additionally, if prospective authors are members of the Society for Endocrinology, the European Society of Endocrinology or the Endocrine Society of Australia they may also be eligible for further publishing discounts and can check the details with the editorial office. |
| BMJ Case Reports | 100% | Institutional Fellowship provides full access to the collection and covers the case report submission fee for UBC faculty, staff and students. UBC fellowship code is available here. |
| Canadian Science Publishing | 25% – 100% | An unlimited number of their articles can be published for no charge in the following five journals: – Biochemistry and Cell Biology – Canadian Journal of Physics – Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology – Genome – Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering UBC-affiliated authors are also eligible to receive a 25% discount on the article processing charge (APC) for all CSP Hybrid journals. Additional details are available here. |
Cambridge University Press | 100% | Unlimited publication of articles as open access in Cambridge hybrid and gold journals at no charge for the duration of the agreement (2022-2024). Cambridge uses an automated system, RightsLink, to associate authors with their affiliated institutions. Participating members can configure their institutional dashboards to automatically apply the APC waiver to authors. |
| CRKN – Canadian Research Knowledge Network | Varies | Discounts are available for selected publishers. More |
| Electrochemical Society | 100% | UBC researchers are entitled to unlimited open access article credits |
| Elsevier | 20-100% | 100% APC discount on Elsevier Hybrid journals, including Core Hybrid Specialty journals 20% APC discount for most Elsevier Gold Open Access journals Exclusions apply to Cell Press, Lancet, and some other society-owned journals. Click here to view for the list of included titles for each discount. Refer to the Elsevier “Author Journey” document for information on applying the discount, turnaround times, contact information, etc. Additional details are available here. |
| IGI Global | Eight fully-paid OA APCs per year | Open Access APC (value of approx. $2,000 USD per APC). The APC is waived when the author is accepted for publication – IGI will notify the author that a waiver for the APC is available from UBC. Please email Arielle Lomness (arielle.lomness@ubc.ca) for the waiver code. Code’s are given on a first-come, first-served basis every calendar year. |
| Institute of Physics Journals | 100% for select IOP hybrid and gold journals. | The APC is waved when authors submit articles to IOP using Scholar1, which includes an autofill field for corresponding authors to indicate their affiliation. |
| Intellect Journals | 10% | Discounts on articles accepted for publication. |
| John Benjamins Publishing | 100% | UBC researchers are entitled to unlimited fee-free open access articles. |
| Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development | 100% | As a Library Shareholder, the JAFSCD APC of $500 is waived for all authors affiliated with UBC, including all faculty, staff, and students. |
| MDPI | 10% | Discount on articles accepted for publication. UBC affiliated open access articles are automatically deposited to cIRcle, UBC’s institutional repository. |
| Microbiology Society | 100% | UBC researchers are entitled to unlimited fee-free open access articles. |
| NRC Research Press/Canadian Science Publishing | 50% | Discount on APC charge for OA publishing. The reduced fee is $1,500 CAD per article. When submitting your paper, please identify yourself as being affiliated with the University of British Columbia in order to receive the discount. |
| Oxford University Press | 10% – 100% | 100% discount on all hybrid journals (2024-2026) and 10% on gold journals. Upon article acceptance for publication in a hybrid journal, the corresponding author will begin the publication workflow process within OUP’s system. |
| Public Library of Science (PLOS) | 100% | This discount on all PLOS all-titles from February 1, 2023 – December 31, 2024. |
| Royal Society of Chemistry | 15% | Discount on APC charge is automatic. When uploading a manuscript, use your UBC email as the system automatically identifies eligibility for the discount based on the email domain. Upon acceptance of the manuscript, select one of the Creative Commons license options. |
| SAGE | 40-100% | 40% discount on Gold Open Access journals. 100% discount on most SAGE Choice journals. Guidelines and exclusions are available here. |
| SpringerOpen | 15% | Discount on the article processing charge for UBC researchers. |
| Taylor & Francis | 25% discount in T&F Open Select Hybrid journals | To take advantage of the discount on T&F Open Select hybrid journals, an author can submit an article and choose the open access publishing option. When the APC is generated, authors can select their institution from the drop-down menu, and the discount will be automatically applied. The author can select a Creative Commons license to sign once they accept the quote. |
| The National Academy of Sciences | 10% | This discount will be applied by PNAS upon acceptance. It is only applicable to authors who choose immediate open access. |
| Wiley | 100% | Discount on all Wiley’s hybrid journals for the duration of the agreement (2023-2024). Articles accepted for publication in Wiley’s gold journals are not eligible under this agreement. Authors will continue to be charged APCs for accepted articles in these journals. Learn more about the eligibility criteria and see a complete list of eligible titles. |
Open Access Funds
UBC has three open access funds. Review the eligibility requirements to see if your publication applies.
Additional Supports
UBC Library also provides financial support to the following: