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.
Who is eligible?
All CUHK staff and students (full time or part time) can enjoy this OA publishing benefit, provided that
What publishers/ organizations have OA publishing agreements with CUHK? & How can I apply for an APC waiver?
Is there any quota?
Publisher | Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | All journals and proceedings, books are excluded. |
Journal List | ACM Full-Text Collection webpage |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | December 1, 2023 - December 31, 2026 |
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.
Publisher | American Chemical Society (ACS) |
Quota | Limited – NOT Available until 2025
|
Journal Coverage | All journals |
Journal List | ACS Journal webpage |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2025 |
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.
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.
Publisher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | All journals. Conference proceeding is excluded |
Journal List | ASME journals webpage |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2025 |
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.
Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | All journals
|
Journal List | Cambridge University Press Journals |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2026 |
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.
Publisher | Cogitatio Press |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | All Fully OA journals |
Journal List | Journal page |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2026 |
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.
Publisher | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHLP) |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal List |
|
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2025 |
* A hybrid journal is a subscription-based journal in which you can choose to publish your article in open access or closed access (free of charge).
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.
Publisher | De Gruyter |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | De Gruyter Journal List |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | December 1, 2024 - December 31, 2025 |
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. For articles accepted in S2O titles, your article will be published OA after acceptance.
3. For articles accepted in other titles, you will be invited to complete the Journal Publishing Agreement.
4. Register and log in to RightsLink, the system automatically verifies whether you are eligible to apply for an APC waiver based on your affiliation and email.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions and select "CUHK" agreement, if applicable.
6. You will receive a confirmation email if your OA funding has been approved.
Publisher | Future Medicine |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | All journals |
Journal List | Future Medicine collection |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2025 |
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.
Publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) |
Quota | Limited – still available
|
Journal Coverage | All journals |
Journal List | IEEE Title List |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | December 15, 2022 - December 31, 2025 |
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.
Publisher | IOP Publishing |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | Journal Lists A, B, C and D |
Journal List | Eligible Journals |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2025 |
Agreement Summary | Agreement Page |
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.
Publisher | Karger |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | All journals under Karger Journal Portfolio. Journals in Karger Kompass Series are excluded. |
Journal List | Karger Journal Portfolio |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2026 |
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.
Publisher | Microbiology Society |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal List | |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2025 |
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.
Publisher | Public Library of Science (PLOS) |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal List |
Kindly note that PLOS Complex Systems and PLOS Mental Health are NOT included. |
APC Discount | Fully waived
|
Agreement Period | January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2025 |
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.
Publisher | Portland Press |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal List | |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2025 |
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.
Publisher | Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal List | |
Article Type | Original Research, Technical Developments, Erratum, Review and Data Resources articles |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | March 1, 2023 - February 28, 2025 |
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.
Publisher | Rockefeller University Press (RUP) |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | 3 hybrid journals - A hybrid journal is a subscription-based journal in which you can choose to publish your article in open access or not. |
Journal List | |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2026 |
Agreement Summary | Agreement Page |
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.
Publisher | Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3) |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | All journals |
Journal List | SCOAP3 journal list |
APC Discount |
|
Agreement Period | January 1, 2017 - to date |
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 Nature is a large publisher encompassing several imprints, including Springer, SpringerOpen, Nature Portfolio, BioMed Central (BMC), and others. The CUHK's agreements with Springer Nature cover various journals across these imprints. Details are as follows:
Publisher | Springer Nature | |
APC Discount | Fully waived | |
Agreement Model | Springer - Hybrid Model | Springer Nature - Gold/ Fully OA Model |
Quota | Limited – still available
|
Limited – still available #
|
Journal Coverage across Imprints | Hybrid Journals | Gold/ Fully OA Journals |
Springer | ||
Springer Open | ||
Nature Portfolio | ||
BMC | ||
Palgrave Macmillan | ||
Journals List | Springer - Hybrid Journal List* | Springer Nature - Fully OA Journal List* |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2026 | September 1, 2024 - December 31, 2026 |
# Fully open-access journals require authors to pay an article processing charge (APC) upon paper acceptance, even though the institutional quotas are used up. Suppose the institutional quotas are your only funding to cover the APC. In that case, you may consider submitting your manuscript to hybrid journals where you can choose to publish your article in open access or closed access (free of charge),
* The journal list is updated by the publishers on an irregular basis and is subject to change. For any questions, please email to cco@lib.cuhk.edu.hk.
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. The corresponding author must be affiliated with the CUHK to enjoy the APC waiver.
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.
Publisher | The Company of Biologists |
Quota | Unlimited |
Journal Coverage | All journals |
Journal List | |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2025 |
Agreement Summary | Agreement Page |
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.
Publisher | Taylor & Francis | |
Agreement | Hybrid Journals | Fully OA Journals |
Quota | Limited – Still Available*
|
Limited – Still Available*
|
Journal List | Hybrid journal list | Fully OA journal list |
APC Discount | Fully waived | |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2026 | September 1, 2024 - August 30, 2027 |
* Fully open-access journals require authors to pay an article processing charge (APC) upon paper acceptance, even though the institutional quotas are used up. Suppose the institutional quotas are your only funding to cover the APC. In that case, you may consider submitting your manuscript to a hybrid journal where you can choose to publish your article in open access or closed access (free of charge),
Procedure
For Hybrid(Open-Select) Journals 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 Fully OA Journals Manuscript Submission 1. Follow the usual article submission workflow. Please use your CUHK affiliation, email address, and select CUHK as your organization.
2. You will be able to select 'I'd like to use the Chinese University of Hong Kong Open Access agreement' if you have entered the correct organization in Step 1.
3. Follow the on-screen steps to finish the submission process.
Manuscript Acceptance 4. Once the article is accepted, you will receive an email notification alerting you that your funding request under the Open Access agreement is being processed.
5. 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,
Publisher | Wiley |
Quota* |
Limited – still available
|
Journal Coverage | All journals |
Journal List | Wiley journal publications |
APC Discount | Fully waived |
Agreement Period | January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2025 |
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. Make sure you have used CUHK affiliation, address, and email for your account registration.
2. During manuscript submission, you will be asked to confirm your CUHK affiliation. This will be used to determine your eligibility for requesting APC funding.*
3. Your APC funding request will be approved when the article is accepted for publication, subject to funding availability.
* If your CUHK affiliation was not automatically identified, you will be asked to choose a payment option, please follow the steps below.