Open Access Publishing Agreements
The MLML/MBARI Library participates in consortial agreements with Elsevier and Wiley that waive the fees associated with open access publications. These agreements, often called “read and publish” or “transformational” agreements, help provide access to peer reviewed scholarship for all.
Interested in learning more about open access? UC Berkeley’s library guide is a good place to start.
Questions? Please see the details below and reach out to Katie Lage with any questions. For questions regarding SJSU agreements, please contact: dawn.hackman@sjsu.edu.
The Library is now part of The Company of Biologists’ Read & Publish initiative, which means:
- Corresponding authors wishing to publish Open Access in all five of The Company of Biologists’ specialist journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open - can do so without paying an article processing charge (APC).
- Researchers at MLML and MBARI can publish an uncapped number of articles in the above journals.
- You can search and download any article from The Company of Biologists’ journals including the full archive dating back to 1853.
Additionally, a tree is planted in a UK forest every time a researcher at MLML or MBARI publishes a Research article or Review article with The Company of Biologists.
The Company of Biologists’ guide-for-authors provides further details on how to submit your work. The Library participates in several open access agreements and each works a little differently. Authors should investigate the details before submission. Read more about them here and reach out to Katie with questions.
Corresponding authors affiliated with MLML and MBARI can publish open access in eligible Wiley journals at reduced or no cost.
2024-2026 Multipayer Publish & Read Agreement:
- The Library has entered into a new Wiley agreement for 2024-2026!
- Fees to publish your research as an open access article (referred to as APC fees) vary by the funding source for your research.
- If the corresponding author is affiliated with MLML or MBARI and the research was funded by a research grant:
- This agreement provides a discount of $1000 of the APC.
- If the corresponding author is affiliated with MLML or MBARI and the research was NOT funded by a research grant that allows for use to pay APC fees:
- This agreement waives the full APC for unfunded corresponding authors.
- Eligible article types in over 1600 hybrid and fully open access Wiley journals.
- The agreement includes read access to all Wiley titles 1997 to present.
- For more details see the Wiley Guide to SCELC Open Access Agreement:24-2026.
Corresponding authors affiliated with MLML/SJSU (or any campus in the CSU) can publish open access in eligible Elsevier journals at no cost.
- Articles accepted in eligible Elsevier journals between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024 are included in this agreement. Check the SJSU guide for 2025 information as that becomes available.
- The agreement covers corresponding authors who are MLML/SJSU or other CSU affiliates. Use SJSU affiliation (can add MLML as dept.)
- Open access articles are published in the journal and on Elsevier’s ScienceDirect platform under one of two reuse licenses: CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND.
- The author’s choice to publish open access (or not), does not affect publishing decisions by Elsevier.
- This is a renewal of our initial agreement, which covered articles submitted from 2020-2021.
- SJSU Guide to Elsevier Open Access Agreement
- Elsevier Guide to CSU Open Access Agreement
- CSU Libraries Announcement and background information
Update as of June 3, 2025: The ACS open access publishing agreement for CSU authors has been cancelled effective July 1, 2025. Authors who wish to publish open access with ACS will be responsible for fully covering the discounted $3,000 Article Processing Charge (APC). Access to read ACS publications for CSU affiliates will continue without interruption.
SJSU's King Library offers a few other opportunities (e.g. Cambridge University Press) to publish open access for SJSU affiliates. agreement with Cambridge University Press. Read more about them and other SJSU activities in support of open access publishing.