Posted on: August 25, 2025
Open Access (OA) is a global movement aimed at making academic research freely and legally available online. Publishing in OA journals offers several benefits, including:
- Compliance with the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications.
- Increased accessibility for faculty, students, and the public—no paywalls.
- Greater visibility through potentially higher downloads, readership, and citation rates.
- Enhanced recognition of the impactful research being conducted at TRU.
What is an Article Processing Charge?
Many OA journals require authors to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) to cover publishing costs that are typically funded through subscriptions. These fees average around $2,000, which can be a significant barrier for researchers, faculty, and students.
Support Available at TRU
Funding from the Office of the Vice-President Research
APC charges can be covered by most grant funding. For help budgeting APCs in grant proposals, reach out to the Grants Development Team in the Research Office.
The Office of the Vice-President Research occasionally has one-time funding available to help cover APCs in peer-reviewed, open access journals. Look for these opportunities in ROMEO or contact Dr. Anita Sharma, Director, Research Services.
APC Discounts and Waivers Through the Library
Thanks to TRU Library’s participation in the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, faculty and students benefit from transformative agreements and APC negotiations with publishers. Transformative agreements, also known as “read and publish agreements,” enable TRU-affiliated researchers to receive APC discounts or waivers for hundreds of journals, thanks to the subscription fees paid to publishers. CRKN also negotiates other discounts on our behalf.
You can search for journals that are part of these agreements and find out more about the discounts on the CRKN Read and Publish Agreements page and on the CRKN APC Discounts page. Please note that while these pages have overlap, some publishers are only listed on one of them, so check both to ensure you receive the best deal!
These discounts can be different depending on the type of journal:
- Hybrid journals are subscription-based journals that have a paid open access option.
- Gold OA journals are fully OA and usually have a publishing fee.
| Publisher | APC Discount or Waiver |
|---|---|
| American Chemical Society | $250 USD discount on APC for hybrid journals |
| Cambridge University Press | APC fees waived for hybrid & gold OA journals |
| Canadian Science Publishing | APC waived for five journals; 25% discount on APCs for all hybrid journals |
| Elsevier Science Direct | Unlimited OA publishing in hybrid journals; 10-15% discount in gold journals |
| Oxford University Press | APC waived for hybrid journals; 10% discount for gold journals |
| PLOS | No APC for 14 journals |
| Royal Society of Chemistry | APC waived for all hybrid and gold journals |
| SAGE | APC waived for eligible hybrid journals; 40% discount for most gold journals |
| Taylor & Francis | 25% discount on APCs for select hybrid journals |
| Wiley | APC waived for all hybrid journals; 10% discount for gold journals |
Need Help?
If you’re unsure about a journal’s OA status or whether APC discounts or waivers apply, contact Erin May, Scholarly Communications Librarian.
