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. OA publishing allows anyone to access and re-use the journal content subject to license terms at no cost. To publish an OA article, authors usually need to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) to the publisher. With OA agreements between institutions and publishers, funds used for subscriptions are partially allocated for paying the APC on behalf of authors of the institution.
The CUHK Library has entered OA publishing agreements with various publishers and organizations. Eligible CUHK authors can publish their OA articles free of charge with the following publishers and organizations:
Who is eligible?
All CUHK staff and students (full time or part time) can enjoy this OA publishing benefit, provided that
When does the agreement period start?
Is the APC waived fully or partially?
Is there any quota?
How to apply?
What journals are included in the plan?
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has published over 50 journals, including 5 Gold Open Access(as of Dec 2023) across computer science and related fields. The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and ACM covers the contents of the ACM Digital Library (DL), including ACM periodicals and proceedings, books are excluded. The complete list can be downloaded on the ACM Full-Text Collection webpage by clicking [Export ACM periodicals/proceedings].
To publish OA in ACM, the corresponding author must be affiliated with the CUHK to enjoy the APC waiver.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. It is suggested that you use the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
Manuscript Acceptance
2. The corresponding author will receive an email with a link to complete a License to Publish. Click on the link to access the eRights form.
3. You will see “This paper is part of the ACM Open Program” at the top of the webpage. Confirm all information on the edit screen and click on the check box and [Proceed to eRights Form].
4. Select [Institutionally Paid Open Access] and choose a Creative Commons License (default is CC-BY 4.0), then click on [Proceed].
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the form and click on [Submit]. You will receive an email confirmation of the acceptance of the forms along with a copy for your records.
For the Publication Rights & Licensing Policy, visit the ACM Publication Policy.
ACS Publications is a division of the American Chemical Society, the leading chemistry article publisher. The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and ACS covers all journals in its portfolio.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
Manuscript Acceptance
2. After your article is accepted by the journal, you will be invited to complete the Journal Publishing Agreement.
3. The system automatically identifies you are affiliated with the CUHK. Choose the [Yes, I wish to publish open access as per the agreement] option.
4. Click [Order Open Access].
5. You will be prompted to the RightsLink system, check the [Seek Funding from the Chinese University of Hong Kong] option, and complete the checkout process, even for $0, to submit your funding request for approval. You will be asked to log in or create an account in the RightsLink system during this process.
Remark: Once the quota is used up, you will not be provided the [Seek Funding from the Chinese University of Hong Kong] option.
For more information, please refer to this demo video on how to complete the Journal Publishing Agreement and publish your article open access under an institutional open access agreement.
The American Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is an international organization that promotes the advancement and education of mathematical and applied sciences through publications and conferences. Its OA agreement with the CUHK Library excludes full open access journals and covers the following 21 hybrid journals:
Procedure
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. The manuscript submission system will automatically check whether you are an eligible author for the APC waiver based on your email domain and affiliation.
Please visit the AIMS webpage for more details on its Open Access Publishing scheme.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has published 35 journals, including 1 Gold Open Access journal (as of Apr 2024) across engineering, science and related fields. The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and ASME covers all journals except conference proceedings. The complete list can be viewed on the ASME journals webpage.
To publish OA in ASME, the corresponding author must be affiliated with the CUHK to enjoy the APC waiver.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. It is suggested that you use the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
Manuscript Acceptance
2. The corresponding author will receive an email once the paper has been accepted. Log into ASME Journal Tool with your credentials and you will be brought to the below screen where [Chinese University of Hong Kong] will be added as having an OA agreement. Then click on [Yes, My institution has an OA agreement].
3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the publishing process.
For the information and instructions for prospective ASME authors, please visit ASME Information for Authors.
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 journals covered by the OA agreement can be found at the OA Waivers and Discounts webpage.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission process as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
Manuscript Acceptance
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Register and log in to the Rightslink. Check the [Seek Funding from the Chinese University of Hong Kong] option, and complete the checkout process, even for $0, to submit your funding request for approval.
Cogitatio Press is an independent academic publishing organization that focuses on open access publishing, and covers topics in the social sciences, humanities, and interdisciplinary fields. Its Institutional Membership Agreement with the CUHK Library covers all open access journals that can be viewed on the Journal page.
Procedure
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. The manuscript submission system will automatically check whether you are an eligible author for the APC waiver based on your email domain and affiliation.
Please visit the institutional Membership program webpage for more details.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHLP) is a publisher of scientific research and educational resources in the field of molecular and cellular biology. Its OA agreement with the CUHK Library covers the following 4 journals:
Procedure
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. The manuscript submission system will automatically check whether you are an eligible author for the APC waiver based on your email domain and affiliation.
Please visit the CSHL Press Transformative Agreements webpage for more details.
The Future Science Group has entered an OA agreement with the CUHK Library covering two collections: Future Science and Future Medicine. The Future Science collection focuses on applied science and intellectual property issues in R&D; while the Future Medicine collection publishes journals on clinical and translational medicine and the biosciences.
All OA journals and hybrid journals with an OA option in these two collections are included in the agreement. The journal list is available on the Future Science and Future Medicine webpages.
Gold OA option is available for all article types except Drug, Device, and Vaccine Evaluation articles. Please check the details on the journal webpages.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission process as usual. Please ensure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for the manuscript submission.
2. Download and fill in the Open Access Journal Form. Answer [Yes] to the question: Are you or your co-author’s primary affiliation one of our Read & Publish member institutions?
3. Upload the completed Open Access Journal Form in [Step 2] of the submission process.
4. Upon receiving your response, the Publisher will check whether the OA article is eligible for the APC waiver based on the corresponding author’s affiliation.
Please visit the Future Science and Future Medicine webpages for more details on the submission process.
Hindawi has more than 270 Gold OA journals covering subjects in Biological Sciences, Medicine, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Engineering, and Computer Science. The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and Hindawi covers all Hindawi journals.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. Select [Chinese University of Hong Kong] from the drop-down list when you type in the affiliation.
3. Your APC funding request will be approved when the article is accepted for publication, subject to funding availability.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. IEEE has published 20+ full Gold OA journals and 160+ hybrid journals that offer an OA option. The title list is available here.
The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and IEEE covers all Gold OA and hybrid journals.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow IEEE’s article submission process as usual. Make sure you have used CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission. The system will automatically check whether you are an eligible author for the free APC tokens based on your email domain.
Manuscript Acceptance
2. If the article is accepted for publication, you will receive an acceptance email. If your article is accepted by a hybrid journal, please choose [Yes] for the Open Access option.
3. After the publishing agreement is signed off, the corresponding author will receive an email from the Publisher's RightsLink system and be requested to pay the APC.
4. Register and log in to the RightsLink. Check the [Seek Funding from the Chinese University of Hong Kong] option, and complete the checkout process, even for $0, to submit your funding request for approval.
Note: When the quota is used up, you will not be provided with the [Seek Funding from the Chinese University of Hong Kong] option.
IOPscience is an online service for journal content published by IOP Publishing, part of the Institute of Physics (IOP), aiming to disseminate leading-edge scientific research.
The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and IOPscience covers IOP Hybrid and Gold OA journals, excluding journals published in partnership with other societies, such as the American Astronomical Society and Chinese Physical Society. Please find the journal list covered in the agreement HERE, including List A, B, C, and D.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. You will be asked to enter author information. Use the autofill when entering the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
3. IOP will automatically check whether the corresponding author is eligible for the APC waiver based on the email domain and affiliation.
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 OA agreement between the CUHK Library and Karger covers all Gold OA and Hybrid journals, with the exception of journals in the Partner Publication Portfolio and the Karger Kompass Series. The journal list is available on the Karger webpage.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. 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 the institution. Leave the Voucher section blank.
3. Karger will use the corresponding author’s name and email address to confirm eligibility for the APC waiver.
The Microbiology Society is one of the largest microbiology societies in Europe dedicated to developing microbiological expertise. The OA agreement covers the following six journals.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. In the Additional Information section, select [Yes] to the question, "Are you eligible for fee-free Open Access via a Publish and Read agreement?"
3. When entering the author list, enter [the Chinese University of Hong Kong] as the corresponding author's affiliation and use the CUHK email address.
4. For hybrid journals, please indicate [Yes] to the question, "would you like to submit for Open Access publication?"
Remark: For fully open access journals, the answer to this question is a mandatory yes.
Manuscript Acceptance
5. After your manuscript is accepted, the publisher will invite you to the RightsLink system. Register and log in to the RightsLink, and you will see funding options. Check the [Seek Funding from the Chinese University of Hong Kong] option, and complete the checkout process, even for $0, to submit your funding request for approval.
The Public Library of Science (PLOS) is an OA publisher aiming to accelerate science and medicine knowledge advancement. The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and PLOS covers the following PLOS journals.
Kindly note that PLOS Complex Systems and PLOS Mental Health are NOT included.
For Journals 1-3 (PLOS Biology, PLOS Medicine, and PLOS Sustainability and Transformation)
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. The publisher will automatically check whether you are an eligible author for the APC waiver based on your email domain and affiliation.
For Journals 4-12 (PLOS ONE, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Pathogens, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, PLOS Genetics, PLOS Digital Health, PLOS Climate, PLOS Water, and PLOS Global Public Health)
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. Jump to the [Additional Information] section.
3. Scroll to [Publication fees] and select [My institution will fully or partially pay the fee…]
4. Select [Chinese University of Hong Kong] from the drop-down list.
5. The publisher will automatically check whether the OA article is eligible for an APC waiver based on the corresponding author’s affiliation.
As the Biochemical Society’s publisher, the Portland Press focuses on publishing researches and reviews on molecular biosciences. It has entered an OA agreement with the CUHK Library covering all seven journals:
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration.
2. In the Author Information section, select [The Chinese University of Hong Kong] as the organization.
3. You will find the CUHK and Portland Press OA agreement in the Detailed Information session.
Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) represents over thirty radiologic subspecialties worldwide. It has entered an OA agreement with the CUHK Library covering the following journals:
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
2. The manuscript submission system will automatically check whether you are an eligible author for the APC waiver based on your email domain and affiliation.
Rockefeller University Press (RUP) is an academic publishing institution that publishes scientific journals in cell biology, immunology, and neuroscience. The 3 hybrid journals covered by the OA agreement are:
The corresponding author must be affiliated with the CUHK to enjoy the APC waiver. The agreement details can be found on the Read-and-Publish Agreements webpage.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission process as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration. During the manuscript submission, please follow the on-screen instructions to search The Chinese University of Hong Kong and select the suggestion "The Chinese University of Hong Kong" that is linked to the CUHK ROR record.
Manuscript Acceptance
2. The corresponding author will receive an email with a link to complete a License to Publish. Make sure the first option [We have identified...all publication fees will be waived.] is selected, and click [Continue to License to Publish Form] at the bottom of the screen.
3. After the publishing agreement for Open Access is signed off, you will receive a $0 invoice that indicates that the Open Access fee has been paid for by the institution.
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 OA articles with High-Energy Physics content in SCOAP3 journals free of charge.
The journal list is available on the SCOAP3 webpage.
The submission process is detailed in each journal's ‘Author Guidelines’ section. Please ensure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for the manuscript submission.
Springer has published 2200+ hybrid journals that offer an OA option across the life sciences to the humanities.
The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and Springer covers more than 1900 Hybrid journals. The journal list is available for download on the Open access agreement for JULAC webpage. Kindly note that Nature Portfolio journals and fully OA journals are NOT included in this agreement.
The corresponding author must be affiliated with the CUHK to enjoy the APC waiver.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. It is suggested that you use the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
Manuscript Acceptance
2. Once the article is accepted, you will receive an email invitation to identify themselves as being affiliated with CUHK and complete the publishing agreement. Click the link in the email to process.
3. Please select [Hong Kong] from a drop-down list and click [Next].
4. You are given basic information about publishing their article open access, including the Article Processing Charge (APC). Click [Next].
5. You will be asked to confirm the affiliation provided on submission for eligibility. Click [Yes, Chinese University of Hong Kong is the institution I'm affiliated with], then click [Next].
6. Search [Chinese University of Hong Kong] and select it.
7. Click [Next].
8. You will be shown a summary of the information you have provided and the agreements they selected. Click [Submit for approval] to proceed. Then just follow the on-screen steps to finish the OA pre-publishing declaration and agree to the publishing agreement.
For more support for authors, please visit the Author helpdesk and on Open access agreements - Information for authors.
Taylor & Francis has published 2000+ hybrid journals that offer an OA option covering subjects like Humanities, Medicine, Engineering, Economics, Social Sciences, Education, Politic, Bioscience and Area Studies.
The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and Taylor & Francis covers more than 2000 Hybrid journals. The journal list is available on the Open Select journals webpage,
To publish OA in Taylor and Francis, the corresponding author must be affiliated with the CUHK to enjoy the APC waiver.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Please use the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
Manuscript Acceptance
2. Once the article is accepted, you will receive an email invitation to identify yourself as being affiliated with CUHK and complete the publishing agreement. Click on [START AGREEMENT PROCESS] to proceed.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the Author publishing agreement, select [I'd like to use the Chinese University of Hong Kong Open Access agreement] and click [NEXT].
4. Select [I own copyright. If I have co-authors, we jointly own copyright and I am acting on our behalf.] and click [NEXT].
5. After completing the Author publishing agreement, you will receive a confirmation email.
6. You will also receive an email confirmation when your OA funding request is approved.
For more support for authors, please visit the Read and publish FAQs,
The Company of Biologists is dedicated to the biological community. The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and the Company of Biologists covers all five journals in its portfolio.
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow the article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration.
2. In the Author List section, you need to add each author's name, institution, and email. The CUHK author must be the corresponding author. If there are multiple corresponding authors, the primary corresponding author responsible for the submission must be the CUHK author.
3. In the Open Access section, check the [Gold Open Access/CC-BY] and [Read & Publish fee waiver] boxes. Please note that only CC-BY is available for the open access license.
Manuscript Acceptance
4. After your manuscript is accepted, the publisher will invite you to the RightsLink system. Register and log in to the RightsLink, and you will see funding options. Check the [Seek Funding from the Chinese University of Hong Kong] option, and complete the checkout process, even for $0, to submit your funding request for approval.
Wiley has published 300+ full Gold OA journals and more than 1,300 hybrid journals that offer an OA option, covering subjects across the humanities, social sciences, science, technology, and medicine. The journal list is available here.
The OA agreement between the CUHK Library and Wiley covers all Gold OA and Hybrid journals.
You may indicate multiple corresponding authors in an article. However, the responsible corresponding author must be affiliated with the CUHK to enjoy the APC waiver.
For Hybrid Journals (Journals providing an OA option)
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow Wiley’s article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used the CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration and manuscript submission.
Manuscript Acceptance
2. After your article is accepted by the journal, you will be invited to the Wiley Author Service. Click on the [Manage article] button.
3. Indicate and confirm the corresponding author(s).
4. Assign the "responsible corresponding author" role to an author affiliated with CUHK in order to enjoy the APC waiver. Your co-author may transfer the responsible corresponding author role to you.
5. Enter and confirm the funders and grant details for this article, if any.
6. If the affiliation information is not provided, enter [Chinese University of Hong Kong] as the affiliation of the responsible corresponding author.
7. Choose the copyright ownership.
8. Select the [open access] option.
9. Choose one of the Creative Common Licenses.
10. Finally, sign the license by following the onscreen instructions.
11. Your APC funding request will be approved when the article is accepted for publication, subject to funding availability.
For Fully Open Access Journals (also known as Gold Open Access Journals)
Procedure
Manuscript Submission
1. Follow Wiley’s article submission workflow as usual. Make sure you have used CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration.
2a. During the manuscript submission, if you are asked for a payment option, please follow below steps.
2b. If no payment option is provided on screen, please select the [Chinese University of Hong Kong] as your affiliated institution from the drop-down list.
3. Your APC funding request will be approved when the article is accepted for publication, subject to funding availability.
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.
