Open Access Article Processing Charges: Overview and Resources

Why have I been asked to pay to publish my article?

Article Processing Charges (APCs) are charged to authors of scholarly articles during the publication process. APCs are used by some open access journals in lieu of subscription fees that libraries and readers traditionally have paid to gain access to research articles. They are also used by "hybrid" journals where open access is an option.

For fully open access journals, APCs shift the burden of journal production costs (editing, peer review, hosting, archiving, preservation), to authors from readers. Open access means an article that is available to anyone with an internet connection. Corporate, non-profit, society, academic, and other publishers use a variety of models to meet their income needs and publishing service costs, and charging APCs is one model.

UNLV articles that are available to anyone, anywhere, with an internet connection support the UNLV Top Tier initiative and R1 status, specifically by helping UNLV achieve wide dissemination of the outstanding research that is conducted on at UNLV.

Why NOT pay an APC?

• If you prefer not to contribute to a journal that charges APCs or simply can't afford to, you have other choices for sharing your work widely, beyond a paywall. Two common ways of avoiding APCs but sharing your work widely (without violating copyright) are:
  • to choose an open access journal that does not charge APCs (the Directory of Open Access Journals - DOAJ - can help identify journals without fees)
  • place your final, peer reviewed, manuscript in a repository like UNLV's or a disciplinary repository (as allowed by copyright and publisher)

Why pay an APC?

There are many reasons why UNLV authors may choose to publish in a journal that charges APCs.

• Visibility: Typically making your article open access can create increased readership of your article. 
• Journal quality: Authors may find that well-known journals charge APCs, particularly for their hybrid journals where open access is an option for an otherwise paywalled journal.
• Copyright: APC-funded articles often* include provisions that allow the author to retain more rights to their work and also give readers additional usage rights. Creative Commons licenses ranging from attribution only to more strict non-commercial and/or no-derivatives versions.
• Compliance: If you are funded by a US Federal agency, you may find that publishing in an OA journal (with or without APCs) helps satisfy requirements to share the results of your research with US taxpayers.

*Every author should read their contract with their publisher, ask questions, and suggest changes.  A high-quality journal will be transparent and open about their policies, including APCs.