… and, just in case you were wondering
One of our author team is at an institution that is part of an OA Agreement, with the APC covered by the institution, but we're still being charged. Can you explain why this is? In order for an APC waiver to be applied to a submitted article, the corresponding (lead) author must be affiliated to an institution that’s part of the Publish and Read Agreement. If your institution isn't listed there are still ways to publish open access with BMJ, you just don't qualify for an institutional waiver or discount. I have submitted an article to a qualifying journal (it appears in the drop down menu) and am still being charged an APC, why is this the case? It might be that your article does not meet the Publish and Read Agreement criteria, please check your agreement information (access via this page) to find out if your article type is eligible and qualifies. In addition, you may want to check that your RingGold ID validated and that your funder was eligible (see earlier questions).
Which BMJ journals are fully open access? BMJ fully open access journals give you the option to make your research available online immediately and free for all to access. You can find a full list of BMJ OA journals here. What’s a Transformative Journal? A Transformative Journal (TJ) is a subscription or hybrid journal that is actively committed to transitioning all its research content to open access by 2025. TJs proactively promote open access while ensuring that all authors can continue to publish in them, regardless of their funding provision. The majority of BMJ’s portfolio either has, or has applied for, TJ status, and this makes us Plan S compliant, ensuring that we continue to support your needs by complying with all funder mandates. You can find a list of BMJ Transformative journals here.
In summary, please remember...
Pre submission - CHECK
It is also worth checking that your article type is eligible under the terms of the Agreement.
Does my institution have an agreement with BMJ? What does it cover? Does my paper meet the criteria?
Article types eligible: original research; and, in the UK, reviews. For a comprehensive list of article types for each Collection, go here.
All of these checks can be done from here.
On Submission - CHECK
OA Membership/ Prepay Account How do I request APC discounts (or free processing) for my article? If your institution has an Open Access membership, a discount will be automatically applied based on a matching RingGold ID for primary affiliation and/or email domain. If your institution has a Prepay account, upon acceptance, the RightsLink® Account Manager will notify your institution and the institution (or consortia) funder will be able to review, and then approve or deny the request from their central dashboard. If your request is approved, you will receive a confirmation email from RightsLink®. Your article will proceed through production and is then published open access in the journal of your choice.
Have I validated my primary affiliation in RingGold? Have I used my primary affiliation’s email domain? Have I validated my funder?
If your question hasn’t been answered here, or to find out more about publishing open access at BMJ, please visit our Author Hub; or contact us directly, openaccess@bmj.com.
OA FAQs publish and read agreements 5-23
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