Library funds new open access publishing options for faculty and students, including more Wiley journals
First year of Library agreement with Wiley saved UChicago researchers half a million dollars
The University of Chicago Library has entered into new agreements with publishers that allow UChicago students, faculty, and staff to publish their research as open access without needing to pay article processing charges (APCs) or book processing charges (BPCs). These agreements, covering journals in many disciplines across the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, make information freely available around the world, demonstrating the Library's commitment to open and equitable access to the University's research and scholarly work.
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The Wiley agreement
The Wiley agreement, negotiated through the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), has been expanded to include unlimited publishing in all gold OA Wiley and Hindawi journals, in addition to hybrid journals, and runs through December 31, 2025. The first year of this agreement was highly successful, with 132 articles from UChicago researchers published as open access, an increase from 18% in 2021 prior to the agreement to over 72% in 2022 after one year. This has saved researchers approximately half a million dollars in APCs.
UChicago corresponding authors can publish in all Wiley publications with no fees, no caps, no limits, and no hassle; authors keep rights in their own work under a Creative Commons license; this work is immediately open and available to anyone. To qualify, authors need to specify their affiliation with the University of Chicago in the manuscript submission process. Additional details about this agreement can be found on the BTAA FAQ page for Wiley.
The Institute of Physics agreement
The Institute of Physics (IOP) agreement, also negotiated through the BTAA, allows UChicago corresponding authors to publish an unlimited number of OA research and review articles without charge in 76 hybrid and gold OA IOP journals from January 2023 through the end of 2025. The eligible journals cover a wide range of topics in physics, engineering, technology, and related STEM disciplines. To qualify, authors must identify themselves as an affiliate of the University of Chicago and use their UChicago email address in the manuscript submission process. Please see the BTAA FAQ page for IOP for more details about this agreement.
The Open Book Publishers agreement
The UChicago Library has entered into an agreement with Open Book Publishers (OBP) that helps support the publishing of peer-reviewed open access ebooks from a wide range of disciplines without requiring authors to pay a book processing charge. Authors retain the copyright in their publications and can facilitate access to and reuse of them through open licensing. The books will be available in PDF, HTML, and XML formats, but they will also be available for purchase as affordably priced paperbacks or hardbacks.
Based in Cambridge, U.K., OBP is a scholar-led nonprofit academic press that specializes in publishing OA peer-reviewed monographs, edited collections, critical translations, and textbooks. Information about their support for authors is available in this guide. A catalog of their published titles can be browsed online.
SciFree Journals Search Tool
The UChicago Library has also recently implemented the SciFree Journals Search Tool, which enables all affiliated researchers to search for journals that they can publish open access without paying an APC, based on the agreements that the Library has funded. This tool is available to use from the “Search Journals” section of our Open Access Agreements website.
Learn more about our open access agreements
These agreements, as well as others that the Library initiated in the past two years, demonstrate the Library’s commitment to amplifying the reach and impact of UChicago researchers’ scholarly output and to supporting equitable access to knowledge around the globe. More information is available from the Library webpages on Publisher Open Access Agreements and Other Open Access Initiatives. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at Ask a Librarian.
