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Open Access : Elsevier APC Waivers and Discounts for WashU Authors

Elsevier Discounts on Article Processing Charges (APCs)

Becker Medical Library (in partnership with Washington University Libraries) facilitated a new transformative open access agreement with Elsevier. The four-year agreement provides access to additional content from the Elsevier ScienceDirect journal collection including eight new Cell Press journals, and full waivers and discounts on article processing charges (APCs) for open access articles published by WashU corresponding authors.

The agreement covers a 4-year period: January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2027. The journal bundles under the agreement are:

  • Hybrid Journals including Cell Press
  • Gold (Open Access) Journals
  • Gold (Open Access) Cell Press and Lancet Journals

The APC waivers apply to the Hybrid Journal bundle including Cell Press. There is a limit of APC waivers per calendar year, with a gradual increase each year of the agreement. The waiver limits are based on WashU publishing history in the journals and subject to a first-come, first-served basis. APC discounts apply for Gold (Open Access), and Gold (Open Access) Cell Press and Lancet journal bundles. Authors will be required to sign a Creative Commons license.

Search the Elsevier Journal Finder List for  ~2,500 Elsevier journals eligible for a waiver or discount of APCs.

 

Questions? Cathy Sarli or Amy Suiter 

The Process

WashU authors will receive a notification confirming eligibility for an APC waiver or discount after a work has been accepted for publication. The corresponding author’s acceptance email from an Elsevier journal editor will contain a link to the Elsevier Open Access Platform (EOAP) for the author to complete their "Publishing Journey." The WashU corresponding author can chose from two options for the work:

  • Publish under the traditional publication model (non open access).
  • Publish under a Creative Commons license (open access/Gold). 
    • CC BY
    • CC BY-NC-ND

Upon validation of WashU affiliation by library staff, the WashU corresponding author is notified.

For more information and videos: Elsevier Journal Article Publishing Support Center.

Creative Commons Licenses

A Creative Commons license allows for a standardized method of licensing creative works to grant users permission to share and use creative work with select conditions.

WashU corresponding authors who publish their work under an Open Access license can select from one of two Creative Commons licenses: CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND.

  • The Attribution (CC BY) license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.
  • The Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

For more information, see: Creative Commons Licenses.

Contacts for Danforth Campus Authors

 Danforth Campus

Terms and Definitions

Term Definition
Article Processing Charge (APC) An APC is a fee paid by authors to publish a work under an Open Access license. No subscription is required to read the full text of the article.
Discount Discount refers to a discount on the APC for authors. Some journal collections offer a set discount such as
10%; others offer a staggered discount over the term of the agreement
First-come, First-served Some journal bundles have a cap on the number of articles eligible for a full waiver for each calendar year of the agreement. Authors will be entitled to full APC waiver until the cap is met. The waivers are determined on a first-come, first-served basis.
Gold (Open Access) Journal A journal that publishes all articles under an Open Access license. An APC is required (some exceptions).
Hybrid Journal A journal that offers authors the option to publish their article under an Open Access license. These journals have a mix of traditional and Open Access articles in each issue. An APC is required (some exceptions). Some hybrid journals “flip” to Gold (Open Access) journals. A unique component of the agreement is a "grandfather" clause that allows WashU corresponding authors to a full APC waiver for any Hybrid Journal that “flips” to Gold (Open Access) during the term of the agreement
Waiver Waiver refers to a full waiver of the APC charge for authors. Some journal bundles are limited to a specific number of articles per year.
WashU Corresponding Author The WashU Corresponding Author must have a current WashU affiliation, and is the author who submits the manuscript to a journal for peer review and serves as the main point of contact for the publisher.

 

Resources

Did You Know?

Authors who decide not to publish their works as Open Access can share and self-archive their works (final, peer-reviewed manuscript version) under Elsevier's sharing policies. Authors can self-archive their works on Digital Commons@Becker, a digital repository for hosting scholarly work created at Washington University School of Medicine. Collections include journal articles, meeting abstracts, research papers, poster presentations, newsletters, videos, sound files, data, protocols, code, and more. For more information about creating a Digital Commons@Becker collection, please visit the “FAQ” section or contact Brittney Sandler.