Open Access

This page describes the different agreements the library has negotiated with each of the following publishers for UNLV researchers.

If you are affiliated with UNLV and are looking for information about general support for Open Access publishing (not publisher specific), please review the UNLV Open Article Fund information.

These efforts to make UNLV research 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 our campuses.

To share suggestions for publishers that you would like to see open access agreements with please let us know by emailing digitalscholarship@unlv.edu.

Research published by corresponding authors based at UNLV can be made open access at no additional cost thanks to a new 2021 agreement negotiated between UNLV University Libraries and Cambridge University Press. This agreement means UNLV authors have the opportunity to publish open access in Cambridge University Press hybrid and fully open access journals, at no additional cost to themselves or UNLV.

The agreement covers the Article Processing Charges (APCs) for affiliated corresponding authors whose research articles are accepted for publication in CUP hybrid and gold journals during the three year agreement term.

• For UNLV authors publishing with CUP, the agreement provides significant new open publishing benefits
• For UNLV the agreement allows anyone, anywhere, to access UNLV research published open access, irrespective of an individual or institutional ability to pay subscription costs.
• For CUP, the agreement accelerates the transition to being a majority open journals publisher.

What to know about this agreement:

• Open to all UNLV corresponding authors
• Supports both hybrid (journal is subscription-based with optional OA) and fully open access journal articles (all articles are OA, no subscription costs)
• For 2021, CUP has agreed to add these open access benefits to our CUP subscription package at no additional cost (to UNLV or to UNLV authors)
• You MUST opt in to this agreement on the RightsLink page. Select the option "seek funding" to find this UNLV agreement
• The agreement is part of a three-year license with CUP and may change after December 2023.

Learn more about open research at CUP.

Research published by corresponding authors based at UNLV can be made open access at no additional cost due to a new 2021 agreement negotiated between UNLV University Libraries and The Company of Biologists. This agreement means UNLV authors have the opportunity to publish open access in The Company of Biologists subscription-based hybrid journals, at no additional cost to themselves or UNLV.

The agreement covers the Article Processing Charges (APCs) for affiliated corresponding authors whose research articles are accepted for publication in The Company of Biologists hybrid journals (not fully OA journals) during the three year agreement term.

• For UNLV authors publishing with Company of Biologists, the agreement provides new open access publishing benefits
• For UNLV the agreement allows anyone, anywhere, to access UNLV research published open access, irrespective of an individual or institutional ability to pay subscription costs.
• For The Company of Biologists, the agreement accelerates the transition of this non-profit publisher to being a majority open journals publisher.

What to know about this agreement:

• Open to all UNLV corresponding authors (Guide for corresponding authors at institutions with Read & Publish) who publish in the following three subscription-based hybrid journals that offer authors the option to publish open access:

  • Development

  • Journal of Cell Science

  • Journal of Experimental Biology

• The agreement does NOT cover The Company of Biologists existing fully open access journals.
• These open access benefits have been added to UNLV's The Company of Biologists subscription package at no additional cost (to UNLV or to UNLV authors)
• The agreement is part of a three-year license between UNLV and the publisher and may change after December 2023.

Learn more about The Company of Biologists Read & Publish model (opens a PDF on The Company of Biologists website).

Starting in 2023, and through the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC), the UNLV University Libraries has an agreement with the Institute of Physics to support open access publishing in IOP journals by UNLV corresponding authors.

What to know about this agreement:

• Open to corresponding authors who are current staff members, researchers (permanent, temporary and/or visiting), and students at the time of submission
• Supports open access publication of primary research (incl. research papers, special issue articles, letters & review articles) in subscription based (hybrid) and fully open access journals (excluding American Astronomical Society Journals)
• No cost to the author
• There is a very low addition to UNLV's annual subscription price for this service to UNLV authors.
• Agreement term is January 2023 - December 2025

Complete details for authors are available on the SCELC website.

UNLV University Libraries has partnered with MDPI to provide a 10% discount on articles published with MDPI. Through the Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), which is free to UNLV, authors automatically receive the discount.

What to know about this agreement:

• MDPI proactively looks for UNLV-affiliated authors to apply the 10% discount on their article processing charges
• This discount cannot be combined with other discounts (such as vouchers received from MDPI)
• The agreement is annual (June - May) and may change on a yearly basis

Learn more about MDPI.

Starting in 2023, the UNLV University Libraries subscription to the Royal Society of Chemistry journal package includes payment of seven (7) APCs across all RSC journals.

What to know about this agreement:

• Open to corresponding authors at UNLV until the allotted credits for UNLV are used (7 in 2023 and 9 in 2024)
• Supports open access publication  in subscription based (hybrid) and fully open access journals 
• No cost to the author (up to the limit to UNLV of 7 in 2023 and 9 in 2024)
• UNLV's annual subscription price covers this service.
• Agreement term is January 2023 - December 2024

Learn more about RSCs open access "Read and Publish" services and download the guide for Read and Publish authors (below).

UNLV University Libraries are proud to prioritize access to journals in our collections that commit to a "subscribe to open (S2O)" model of publishing.

What does "subscribe to open" (S2O) mean?

Publishers are choosing to flip some or all of their traditional journals to open access using subscription revenue. This means that as long as enough subscriptions are renewed in a given calendar year, the journal will make all the articles from that year open access. There are no additional costs to institutions or authors under this model.

• What "Subscribe to Open" means for UNLV authors: Authors will be able to publish their articles open access without paying APCs, if enough subscribers maintain their subscriptions to the journal
• What it means for the UNLV budget: UNLV continues to pay the "subscription" in order to support UNLV authors' ability to publish without APCs and to support the journal's transition to open access.