Skip to Main Content

Open Access Publishing & Policies: Open Access Publishing Discounts

University of California Publisher OA Agreements and Discounts

Publisher OA Agreements and Discounts

The University of California has transformative open access publishing agreements and publishing discounts in place with a broad range of scholarly publishers, including several of the world’s largest commercial journal publishers, as well as society, not-for-profit, and fully open access publishers. These agreements and discounts are in place to make it easier and more affordable for UC authors to publish open access by reducing the amount that authors are responsible for paying when publishing open.

Please note: it is a good idea to check the link above for the details of each agreement or contact the Scholarly Communications Librarian (scholcomm at ucsd dot edu) with questions.

corresponding author must be UC affiliated
not all agreements cover all journals or all of the APC
the terms and the journals under agreement are time-bound and subject to change

JOLT - the University of California Journal Lookup Tool
JOLT enables UC affiliated authors to search by a given journal title to determine whether it is eligible for financial support under one of UC’s open access publishing agreements.

University of California Federal Funding Updates
With numerous, quickly evolving federal policy shifts underway, the University of California is working diligently to monitor these developments and seek clarity on a range of issues

Open Access Fact Sheet for UC San Diego Researchers Applying for Grants
This fact sheet was developed to help UC researchers budget for open access publishing when creating their research grant proposals. This resource was developed by our systemwide open access communications team in partnership with UC’s Research Policy Analysis and Coordination (RPAC) unit, which coordinates with the contracts and grants directors on each campus.

OA Decision Tree for UC Authors
A graphical representation and easy-to-navigate guidance UC authors to make UC research articles freely available.

UC San Diego Discounts on Publication Charges

Article and/or book publication discounts listed below are available to UC San Diego authors.

Publisher	What is Included	OA Discount	Discount Based On	Notes	Make your articles OA without paying the APC?
Cold Spring Harbor	All journals	approximately 50% off APC fees	UC San Diego Library local Transformative Agreement	In effect starting in 2023	No
John Benjamins	All journals	100% of APC	UC San Diego Library local Transformative Agreement	In effect starting in 2024	Yes
Luminos	All books	15% discount on the Title Publication Fee for UCSD faculty members	Supporting membership (Garamond level)	Currently in effect. This discount is not covered directly by UC San Diego, it is a discount given by Luminos.	No
MDPI	All MDPI journals	10%	Institutional Open Access Program	UCSD is a member of the program, but do not support MDPI financially. Authors will be responsible for payments directly through MDPI.	No
Microbiology Society	All journals	100% of APC	UC San Diego Library local Transformative Agreement	In effect starting in 2023	Yes
BMJ Case Reports	Only this publication	None	UC San Diego Institutional Fellowship	BMJ Case Reports requires an active fellowship to publish. UCSD Library covers the full cost of publication fee for current UCSD affiliates. It does NOT cover OA charges, which are in addition to the publication fee. Please contact Karen Heskett for information about our institutional fellowship if preparing to publish. BMJ Case Reports User Guide	No

Last updated December 2023.