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Open Access: OA Publishing Pilot @CUHK

Transformative Agreement as a New Publishing Model

Traditionally, institutions subscribe to journals with a subscription fee so that the institutional members can access journal content that would otherwise be behind a paywall. Open Access (OA) publishing allows anyone to access and re-use the journal content subject to license agreement at no cost. To make an article OA, authors usually need to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) to the publisher. Under a new publishing model, namely Transformative Agreement, funds used for subscription are partially allocated for paying the APC on behalf of authors of the institution. 

CUHK Transformative Agreement Pilot

The CUHK Library has signed a transformative agreement pilot with the Cambridge University Press (CUP) and Karger Publishers respectively. During the pilot period (2021-2023), the subscription fee paid to the publishers is partially used to cover the Article Processing Charge (APC) for publishing articles in OA journals and hybrid journals with an OA option. In other words, eligible CUHK authors can publish their OA articles with CUP or Karger with the APC waived. 


Who is eligible?

All CUHK staff and students (full time or part time) can enjoy this OA publishing benefit, provided that

  • The corresponding author of the manuscript must be either a CUHK staff or student
  • The CUHK affiliation, address, and email must be used by the corresponding author for manuscript submission.
  • The manuscript has been accepted for publication during the pilot period.
  • The corresponding author is affiliated with CUHK at the time of paper acceptance.

How to apply?

  • Please refer to the publisher section below for the procedures to claim the APC waiver.

What journals are included in the pilot?

  • All OA journals and hybrid journals with an OA option published by the Cambridge University Press and Karger are included. Please refer to the publisher section below for the full list of journals.

Is the APC waived fully or partially?

  • The APC is fully waived for eligible CUHK authors.

Is there any quota?

  • There is no quota. CUHK authors can submit as many papers as they want for OA publishing, however only those papers accepted for publication during the pilot period will be eligible for the APC waiver.

How to Publish in Journals with Transformative Agreement

The Cambridge University Press (CUP) has published 44 full Gold OA journals and more than 330 hybrid journals that offer an OA option, covering subjects across the humanities, social sciences and science, technology and medicine. The journal list is available for downloading HERE. The list is valid at press time, but the publisher may make minor changes without prior notice. You may also use the OA Waivers and Discounts Checkers for the most updated journal list and agreement details. 

Procedure

1. Go to the journal webpage, click on the [Submit your article] button. Log in or create an account if you do not have one yet. Make sure you have used CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration.

2. In the Author section, click on the [Begin Submission] button to start a new submission.

3. If the article is accepted for publication, you will receive an acceptance email. If your article is accepted by a hybrid journal with an OA option, please choose the [Gold Open Access] for the preferred access type.

4. After the publishing agreement is signed off, the corresponding author will receive an email from the Publisher's Rightslink system and being requested to pay the APC.

5. Register and log in to the Rightslink, you will see a notification funding options. Check the [Seek Funding from the Chinese University of Hong Kong] option.

6. Upon receiving your response, the Publisher will check whether the OA article is eligible for APC waiver based on the corresponding author’s institution information. Please ensure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for the manuscript submission. 

 

For further details on the CUP agreement, please click HERE. You can find a recording of the Read & Publish Author Training webinar by the CUP HERE. 

Karger has published 35 full Gold OA journals and more than 60 hybrid journals that offer an OA option covering a wide range of biomedical science subjects from audiology and speech to surgery. The journal list is available at the Karger webpage or for downloading HERE. The list is valid at press time, but the publisher may make minor changes without prior notice.

Procedure

1. Go to the journal webpage and click on the [SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT] button.

2. Log in or create an account.

3. Add your CUHK email for the author's email address, e.g. 121314@cuhk.edu.hk

4. You will be asked to specify whether your institute has an Open Access Agreement with Karger. In the Open Access Agreements section, select the Eligible option and input "Chinese University of Hong Kong" for the name of institution. Leave the Voucher section blank.

5. Karger will use the corresponding author’s name and email address to confirm eligibility for the APC waiver. Please be reminded to use the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for manuscript submission. 

 

For further details on the Karger agreement, please click HERE. You can find a recording of the Publish & Read Onboarding Session by Karger Publishers HERE. 

 

SCOAP3

The Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee (JULAC) is in partnership with the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3). CUHK authors can publish in the SCOAP3 journal free of charge. Click here for the SCOAP3 journal list.

BioMed Central & SpringerOpen

The CUHK Jockey Club School of Public Health & Primary Care (JCSPHPC) is a member of BMC and SpringerOpen. Researchers and students of the JCSPHPC can enjoy a membership discount when publishing in BioMed Central and SpringerOpen journals. For details and the discount code, please contact the JCSPHPC.