Overview discounts Open Access publications
Many publishers charge fees for Open Access publications, meaning authors are required to pay publication fees, known as Article Processing Charges (APC).
The University Library of Heidelberg University, as a member of nationwide consortia in Germany, has entered into framework agreements with publishers. These agreements allow authors to receive discounts on the APC.
There are two main models for Open Access journals: Hybrid and Gold. Gold Open Access means that the journal publishes only Open Access articles. Hybrid Open Access, on the other hand, means that the journal can publish both Open Access articles and articles behind a paywall (subscription model). Payment modalities and the affiliation verification required to obtain a discount vary significantly between publishers.
Please note: Regardless of the funding modalities, we recommend that you first verify the credibility of each journal and publisher before submitting a manuscript, as there have been an increasing number of fraudulent offers in the open access (OA) field in the past. A secure and efficient way to do this is by briefly checking the journal in the Directory of Open Access Journals; all journals listed there meet scientific quality criteria to a sufficient degree.
BMJ – British Medical Journals
Members of Heidelberg University, as Corresponding Authors, can publish in 28 selected hybrid journals of the publisher without incurring additional costs for the authors (please note that 'The BMJ' is not included). Starting from January 1, 2025, Corresponding Authors from the Mannheim Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University will also be included for the first time.
The list of included journals can be found here. During the submission process, please make sure to select "Universität Heidelberg" as your institution. The costs are covered by the University of Heidelberg's flat-rate contract (except for additional costs, such as colour charges). Authors from Heidelberg University are eligible for a 15% discount on the publication fee for Open Access journals (Gold-Open-Access) published by BMJ, such as BMJ Open.
Since January 2021, this discount is only granted through the central settlement of the publication fee ("APC") by the university library. As the corresponding author, you must select your affiliation during the submission process. If the article is accepted, the university library will receive a notification from BMJ and verify your affiliation with Heidelberg University (including the Heidelberg and Mannheim Medical Faculties, as well as university hospitals and institutes within Heidelberg University Hospital).
If your affiliation is confirmed, the university library will ask you to confirm that the discounted APC will be covered and to provide an invoice address. If you prefer not to use this process, BMJ will invoice the corresponding author directly at the full list price.
Please note that only original research articles (i.e., articles reporting on primary research) are covered by the contract.
Cambridge University Press
Starting from January 1, 2022, members of Heidelberg University can publish as Corresponding Author within a DFG-funded consortium without restriction and at no additional cost to the authors in all hybrid journals and, with a few exceptions, also in Gold OA journals published by the publisher. The costs incurred will be covered by Heidelberg University's flat-rate agreement. Additionally, the range of article types eligible for open access publication has been expanded. In addition to Research Articles, Review Articles, and Rapid Communications, Brief Reports and Case Reports will now also be considered. Please refer to the publisher's submission guidelines.
Company of Biologists
From January 1, 2025, authors of Heidelberg University will be able to publish in hybrid open access in the following journals of the Company of Biologists without restriction and at no additional cost as part of a Read & Publish agreement: Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology. Also included are the Gold OA journals Disease Models & Mechanism and Biology Open. Further information on the Read & Publish agreement can be found at the following link:
Elsevier
In 2023, Heidelberg University joined the nationwide agreement with Elsevier, negotiated by the DEAL consortium.
As a member of Heidelberg University, you have access to the majority of the electronic journals offered by Elsevier. In addition, you can publish your scientific articles within the framework of the Open Access contract.
Your articles will be published under an open licence, preferably CC-BY.
Frontiers
Authors of the University can receive a 10% discount on the publication fee for publications in Frontiers journals.
The discount is administered within the framework of a central settlement of the publication fee ("APC") by the university library. As corresponding author, you must therefore select your affiliation when submitting the article. If the article is accepted, the University Library will receive a message from Frontiers and will check the affiliation with Heidelberg University (this also includes the Heidelberg and Mannheim Medical Faculties as well as university hospitals and institutes within Heidelberg University Hospital).
If affiliation is confirmed, you will be asked by the University Library to agree that you will cover the costs of the discounted APC and to provide an invoice address. After publication of the article, you will receive an invoice from the University Library (discounted publication fee plus tax).
If you do not wish to be processed via affiliation, Frontiers will invoice the corresponding author directly for the full list price.
De Gruyter
Hybrid Open Access Journals
As of 01.01.2022, authors of Heidelberg University (members of the University) who are "corresponding authors" can publish with de Gruyter free of charge and without restriction in currently 104 journals of the publishing package Humanities and Social Sciences Journals (HSS) in hybrid Open Access.
Gold Open Access Journals
In addition to free publication in selected hybrid journals, de Gruyter grants authors of Heidelberg University (members of the University) in Gold Open Access Journals a discount of 20% on the Article Processing Charge ("APC").
Hogrefe („PsyJournals“)
Members of Heidelberg University can currently publish articles free of charge, as a corresponding author, within the Open Access (hybrid) framework in 29 transformative journals of the publisher Hogrefe.
The procedure in brief: upon acceptance of the article, the authors of the participating institutes receive a form from Hogrefe for open access release, in which they can also select the licence. The Open Access contact (in this case Heidelberg University Library), then receives this form by email from the publisher and checks whether the corresponding author belongs to the university. If this is the case, the article is confirmed as belonging to the university and is covered by the OA agreement.
Gold Open Access Journals
In addition to free publication in hybrid journals, Hogrefe offers a 25% discount on the article submission charge ("APC") to these three Gold Open Access journals:
- European Journal of Psychology Open
- Psychological Test Adaptation and Development (PTAD)
- Sports Psychiatry – Journal of Sports and Exercise Psychiatry
The current amount of the APC can be found on the respective publisher's page of the journal (see "For authors / open access order form"). To receive the discount, authors must indicate their affiliation with Heidelberg University when submitting the article. Authors will receive the invoice directly from the publisher.
MDPI
Through participation in the Gold Open Access Publish Agreement between the open access publisher MDPI and ZB MED, authors from Heidelberg University will receive a 15% discount on the publication fee starting January 1, 2025, provided membership is selected during the submission process. MDPI will continue to invoice the authors directly.
PNAS
Members of Heidelberg University who choose to have their article published immediately (Immediate Open Access) as an open access publication pay a discounted surcharge on the publication fee for this: 5,495 USD (plus 19% tax). This price applies to CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY license types. The regular APC ("Delayed Open Access") for a standard publication is 2,945 USD (plus 19% tax). Please note that articles published in PNAS will be made freely available on the web 6 months after publication in any case (Delayed Open Access).
Portland Press / Biochemical Society Journals
From 2025, Portland Press will switch five subscription-based journals to the “Subscribe to Open” (S2O) model. From then on, authors of Heidelberg University will be able to publish as part of a Read & Publish agreement in the journals Biochemical Journal, Clinical Science, Biochemical Society Transactions, Essays in Biochemistry and Emerging Topics in Life Sciences as well as in the Gold Open Access journals Bioscience Reports and Neuronal Signaling without restriction and at no additional cost.
The Royal Society
Open Access in Hybrid Journals
From August 1, 2024, authors from Heidelberg University (including members of the medical faculties Heidelberg and Mannheim of Heidelberg University) will be granted a 25% discount on the APC as Corresponding Authors when publishing articles in Open Access in the hybrid journals of the Royal Society. Please make sure that Heidelberg University is selected as affiliation when submitting an article.
For further information on the publishing model and for instructions for submission (“author journey”) see the links at the right.
In order for the membership discount to be applied correctly, the corresponding author must select Heidelberg University via the drop-down list when submitting the article.
Gold Open Access Journals
From August 1, 2024, authors from Heidelberg University (including members of the Heidelberg and Mannheim Medical Faculties of Heidelberg University) will be granted a 25% discount on the APC as Corresponding Authors when publishing articles in Open Access in the Royal Society's Gold Open Access journals (“fully open access”). Please make sure that Heidelberg University is selected as affiliation when submitting an article.
For further information on the publishing model and for instructions for submission (“author journey”) see the links at the right.
In order for the membership discount to be applied correctly, the corresponding author must select Heidelberg University via the drop-down list when submitting the article.
RSC Journals
Hybrid Open Access Journals
As of 01.01.2024, authors of Heidelberg University (members of the University) who are “corresponding authors” can publish with RSC free of charge and without restriction in currently 37 journals in hybrid Open Access.
Gold Open Access Journals
In addition to free publication in hybrid journals as of 01.01.2024, authors of Heidelberg University (members of the University) who are "corresponding authors" can also publish with RSC free of charge and without restriction in currently 17 Gold Open Access Journals.
Sage
Hybrid Journals (SAGE Choice Program)
From 01.01.2021, authors of Heidelberg University (members of the university), who are recognised as first authors ("corresponding authors"), can publish free of charge and without restrictions in journals included in the Sage Premier publishing package, in hybrid open access. The article types considered for hybrid publishing are: Original Research Papers, Review Papers, Brief Communications, Short Reports and Case Reports.
Author identification (verification of membership of an authorised institution) is carried out by Sage.
Gold Open Access Journals
From 01.01.2021, authors of Heidelberg University (members of the University) who are recognised as first authors ("corresponding authors"), can claim a 20% discount for articles in Gold Open Access Journals published by Sage. Author identification is done by Sage, with the invoice going directly to the authors (the submission of an authorisation code is no longer required).
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): Science Advances
Members of Heidelberg University receive a 15% discount on the APC for publication in Science Advances as Corresponding Author. Make sure to indicate your affiliation with Heidelberg University when submitting an article.
In order for the membership discount to be applied correctly, the Corresponding Author must select the institution that has sigend a license agreement with AAAS. Therefore, please always select “Universität Heidelberg or Heidelberg University” under "Select Institution", even if you belong to one of the medical faculties or Heidelberg University Hospital.
SciPost
Heidelberg University supports the Open Access platform SciPost.
SCOAP3
The University of Heidelberg is a member of the "Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics" (SCOAP3). Authors of the University of Heidelberg can publish free of charge as Corresponding Author in these journals.
Springer Nature (incl. Springer Open & BMC Central)
Discount for publication fees (APCs)
Members of the University of Heidelberg, as Corresponding Author, will receive a 20% discount on the publication fees in the journals of Springer Open from August 1, 2020. No discount is given for Nature and EMBO Gold Open Access journals. The invoice will first be paid by the University Library. After the article has been published, the UB invoices the institution of the Corresponding Author for the costs.
Please note: The journals of Springer Open are so-called Gold Open Access journals and are not covered by the DEAL contract with Springer Nature. There is no central meeting of the costs by the University Library!
Submitting and article and claiming the discount
Please make sure that you are in the network of the University of Heidelberg when submitting the article, as the authentication of membership to the university is done via the IP address of the computer. If you are still outside the IP address range of the university, please select the following dialogue option during the submission process: “I accept responsibility for paying the processing charge on this article.”. The actual identification and allocation of the article to the respective institution will only take place after the article has been accepted for publication. After acceptance and publication of the article by Springer, the authors will then receive an invoice for the APC amount minus the consortium discount (20% discount on publication costs) directly from Heidelberg University Library.
Information about Springer Open Choice-Journals covered by DEAL contract
While the above-mentioned journals of BMC and Springer Open are not covered by the DEAL contract and are therefore not centrally financed by the university library, the journals of Springer Open Choice (hybrid journals) are.
Exception „Springer Facharztzeitschriften”
Articles in the medical specialist journals „Facharztzeitschriften“ from SpringerMedizin only fall under the provisions of the DEAL contract if they are „Research Articles“ that are not requested and actively editorially managed as part of the editorial program planning. We advise to clarify the status of the article with the publisher before submitting it.
Wiley
In 2019 the University of Heidelberg joined the nationwide contract with Wiley, which was negotiated by the DEAL consortium. Members of the University of Heidelberg have access to the entire range of electronic journals published by Wiley. In addition, you can publish your scientific articles within the framework of the Open Access contract. Your articles will be published under an open licence, preferably CC-BY. All publications are subject to costs within the framework of the DEAL contract with Wiley, which are invoiced differently depending on the publication method.