Funding of OA options as part of transformative agreements
Open access articles in subscription-based journals are only funded if the journal is part of a transformative agreement with Leipzig University. In this case, it is not necessary to submit an OA funding application and authors do not incur any costs with an open access publication. Please note that in some cases publishers charge additional fees for other publishing services that are not covered by the transformative agreements. Several contracts also include components according to which the fees in pure Open Access journals (Gold journals) are discounted or billed as part of the central license costs.
As an overview of which journals are part of transformative and framework agreements with Leipzig University, we have compiled this list of all titles from our current agreements. The overview contains information for over 12,000 journals on whether the open access charges (APC) are covered by a transformative agreement or whether the APC can be funded by the Open Access Publication Fund upon application.
The data is updated regularly, however, changes cannot be mapped immediately in all cases. Before submitting your article, please check the publishers' websites or contact the Open Science Office to make sure all journal and cost coverage information is correct.
Gold OA – Discount
Under the current licences, authors receive a 15% discount on publications in Science Advances. Once a publication has been accepted, you’ll receive an email directing you to a payment system where you can pay the APC. Select Leipzig University or the German AAAS Consortium as your institution (see workflow details). Part of the costs for articles in Science Advances can be covered by the Publication Fund up to a maximum of 2,500 €. The remaining amount must be covered by the author’s own budget or third-party funding.
ACM Association for Computing Machinery
Hybrid – Gold OA – Transformation
Corresponding authors of Leipzig University can publish their research articles free of charge under an Open Access license (CC-BY) in all ACM journals and proceedings. Authorization is ensured by selecting the institution upon submission and providing the institutional e-mail address of the "Corresponding Author". Further information can be found on the publisher's website.
Hybrid – Gold OA – Transformation
As part of a "Read & Publish" agreement, members of Leipzig University can publish research articles free of charge as "Submitting Corresponding Author" in all of the publisher's hybrid and gold open access journals. ACS identifies all qualifying articles based on the institutional affiliation with Leipzig University stated at the time of submission. To ensure a smooth process, please make sure that Leipzig University is selected as an institution in your ACS author profile ("Paragon Plus") prior to submission.
AIP – American Institute of Physics
Hybrid – Transformation
Corresponding authors from Leipzig University can publish their work in selected AIP hybrid journals (see list of titles) free of charge under a CC BY open access licence. This applies to primary research and review articles. To qualify, select your institutional affiliation in the submission system. Further information on the model and the submission procedure is available on the publisher’s website.
Hybrid – Transformation
Under a “Read & Publish” agreement, members of Leipzig University who are submitting corresponding authors of research articles can publish open access in licenced hybrid journals free of charge. “Review articles” are not covered by the agreement. Please also note: this agreement does not apply to the flagship journal The BMJ or the publisher’s Gold Open Access journals. Details on contract conditions, workflows, and a list of journals with an OA option are contained on the publisher’s information page for authors.
Hybrid – Gold OA – Transformation
Members of Leipzig University can publish open access free of charge in all hybrid and gold open access journals as “submitting corresponding author”. A list of the journals covered by the license can be found via the OA Waiver & Discount checker tool on the publisher's homepage. Article types included are research articles, review articles, rapid communications, brief reports and case reports.
At acceptance of the article corresponding authors will receive an email from Rightlink containing a link to the billing page. On this page, please complete or confirm your affiliation with Leipzig University. This will usually be found under “apply discount” and “affiliation discount”. Choosing Leipzig University will reset the publishing fee to zero. Please also see the publisher’s information for a detailed description of the submission process.
Gold OA – Flat-Fee
The University of Leipzig has a flat-fee contract with the open-access publisher Cogitatio for the central financing of open-access publication costs (APC) in all publisher's journals. Thus, corresponding authors from Leipzig University whose articles are accepted for publication by Dec. 31, 2025 can publish open access free of charge. Eligible authors are automatically identified upon submission by their institutional email address (domain: uni-leipzig.de).
Gold OA – Central Funding
In 2024 and 2025 the University of Leipzig has an agreement with the open-access publisher Copernicus Publications for the central financing of open-access publication costs in all publisher’s journals. Articles by corresponding authors from Leipzig University or Leipzig University Hospital accepted by December 31rd 2025 will be part of this contract. Eligibility will be determined using the affiliation designation and ROR-ID of Leipzig University or Leipzig University Hospital respectively. No charges will be billed to the author. Application for funding is not necessary until further notice.
Hybrid – Transformation
As part of a three-year transformation agreement (2023-2025), submitting corresponding authors from Leipzig University can publish free of charge in hybrid journals in the humanities, social sciences, and economics. Besides research articles, other types of articles such as book reviews are also covered by the agreement. Corresponding authors are automatically recognized via their institutional e-mail address and informed about the "Read&Publish" agreement. Further information on the terms of the agreement can be found on the publisher's website.
Gold OA – Discount
Under our current licence, the publisher offers a 20% discount on APC (article processing charge) for articles published in its gold Open Access journals by submitting corresponding authors from Leipzig University. This offer also extends to De Gruyter journals that are made open access during the current license period as well as newly founded OA journals. Authors can apply for funding from the open access publishing fund of Leipzig University if all other criteria are met.
Elsevier (DEAL)
DEAL – Hybrid – Transformation
“Submitting corresponding authors” of Leipzig University can publish open access in Elsevier’s hybrid journals, including the imprints Cell Press and The Lancet, at no additional cost. After your article has been accepted for publication, select your affiliation with Leipzig University of Leipzig or Leipzig University Hospital and choose the publication option "Gold Open Access".
A continuously updated list of included journals can be found here by searching for the terms "Core Hybrid" and "CP/TL Hybrid" in the "Bucket" column. Please also refer to Elsevier's agreement website which, among other useful information, hosts a detailed description of the author journey.
Gold OA – Discount
For Gold Open Access journals, the DEAL contract grants 20% APC discount for Elsevier Fully Gold Open Access journals and a 15% APC discount for Fully Gold Cell Press and The Lancet journals. Once accepted, articles are identified and assigned to the respective DEAL institution via the affiliation selection by the "Submitting Corresponding Author". Each identified article is checked for formal admissibility by the University Library and invoiced centrally after confirmation. Costs of up to €2,500 can be covered by the publication fund in accordance with the general conditions of the fund. Any costs which aren’t eligible for funding will be billed to the relevant department within the university
Further information on publication conditions and procedures under the DEAL contracts can be found on the DEAL website.
Gold OA – Discount
There is a discount agreement with Frontiers Media SA, under which the costs for published articles are reduced by 10% for “submitting corresponding authors”. The charges can be covered by the OA Publication Fund, provided all the eligibility criteria are met. Please note that the fees for many Frontiers Media journals exceed the OA Publication Fund’s limit of 2,000 € per article. The remaining amount must be paid by the authors themselves.
Hybrid – Transformation
The Open Access Transformation Agreement with Hogrefe enables “submitting corresponding authors” from Leipzig University to publish their research articles open access in Hogrefe’s PsyJOURNALS (journals of psychology) free of charge. Further details of the agreement and submission guidelines can be found in the publisher’s FAQ for authors.
Gold OA – Discount
As part of the agreement, the publisher offers a 25% discount on article processing charges (APC) for authors from Leipzig University ("Submitting Corresponding Author") in their 3 Gold OA journals (European Journal of Psychology Open, Psychological Test Adaptation and Development (PTAD) and Sports Psychiatry - Journal of Sports and Exercise Psychiatry). The discount is granted by indicating the institutional affiliation to Leipzig University. Authors can receive support from the Open Access Publication Fund for the remaining fees, provided that all other eligibility criteria are met.
Hybrid – Gold OA – Transformation
Under the current transformative licence agreement “submitting corresponding authors” from Leipzig University can publish free of charge in any of the publisher’s gold and hybrid open access journals. IOP identifies qualifying articles based on the affiliation of the submitting corresponding author. Corresponding authors will be contacted during the peer review process regarding the option to publish open access. A current list of included journals as well as detailed information about the procedure is available on the publisher’s website.
Hybrid – Transformation
The read and publish agreement with John Benjamins enables “submitting corresponding authors” from Leipzig University to publish any research article (including reviews and introductory articles) open access free of charge in any of the publisher’s journals. The publisher identifies all qualifying articles based on the affiliation of the submitting corresponding author during submission and contacts the author with further information.
Hybrid – Gold OA – Transformation
As part of a read and publish agreement, “submitting corresponding authors” from Leipzig can publish their articles open access in Karger’s hybrid journals (“Author’s Choice”) and fully gold open access journals at no additional cost. Details regarding the workflow during submission can be found in the publisher information.
Gold OA – Discount
Leipzig University Library has a discount agreement with the publisher MDPI AG. Costs for articles published in MDPI’s journals qualify for a 30% discount if at least one co-author is affiliated with Leipzig University. Provided the eligibility criteria are met, an application can be submitted for funding up to 2,500 € by the Open Access Publication Fund.
RSC Royal Society of Chemistry
Hybrid – Gold OA – Transformation
Members of Leipzig University can publish in open access (CC BY) as “submitting corresponding author” free of charge in all of the publisher's hybrid and gold open access journals. Corresponding authors are automatically recognized by the publisher via their institutional email address and referred to our read & publish agreement with the RSC.
Hybrid – Transformation
Articles submitted by corresponding authors from Leipzig University can be published hybrid open access with no additional costs. Known as Sage Choice, this option applies to the majority of the publisher’s journals. After an article has been accepted, Sage will email eligible authors on the basis of their affiliation statement to explain how to use this option. Please visit the publisher’s website for further information.
Gold OA – Discount
A 20% discount on APCs applies in all the publisher’s pure gold open access journals. The discount will be applied automatically in the Sage open access portal. Provided the eligibility criteria are met, an application can be submitted for funding to 2,500 € by the Open Access Publication Fund.
DEAL – Hybrid – Transformation
“Submitting corresponding authors” from Leipzig University can publish open access in Springer’s hybrid journals at no additional cost. (Note that this doesn’t apply to hybrid Nature journals.) Besides research articles, other types of articles (so-called non-research articles) such as editorials or book reviews are also covered by the agreement.
After your article has been accepted for publication, please enter Leipzig University or Leipzig University Hospital (UKL) as your affiliated institution in Springer Nature’s online management system and choose the publication form " Open Choice".
An updated list of the journals included can be found here by applying the filter "Open Choice" in the column "Publishing Model". The publisher’s website contains additional information on publishing terms and processes under the DEAL agreement.
Gold OA – Discount
For BMC’s and SpringerOpen’s gold open access journals, a 20% discount is granted on the APC list prices under the DEAL agreement. An exception is made for open access journals in the Nature imprint (e.g. Nature Communications, Scientific Reports), no discounts apply for those journals. The net prices (plus 7% VAT) of the DEAL agreement can be found in the list of journals (column "Current DEAL cost contribution").
To benefit from this agreement, please refer to Springer Nature’s submission guidelines. Articles are only assigned to the respective DEAL institution by the corresponding authors once they have been accepted for publication. Each identified article is checked by Leipzig University Library for eligibility and centrally invoiced after confirmation. An application can be submitted for financial support of up to €2,500 from the Open Access Publication Fund (terms and conditions apply). Any costs which aren’t eligible for funding will be billed to the relevant department within the university.
More information for authors is available on the DEAL website.
Hybrid – Transformation
Corresponding authors from Leipzig University can publish their articles free of charge in hybrid open access journals as part of a consortium license agreement with Taylor and Francis. The “Open Select” option applies to most of the publisher’s licensed journals. The publisher identifies eligible authors based on their email (please use your institutional Leipzig University email address) and their affiliation information. The publisher informs authors via email about the open access option after an article has been accepted. Further information about the process can be found on the publisher's website.
DEAL – Hybrid – Transformation
Authors from Leipzig University can publish open access articles in Wiley’s hybrid journals ("Online Open Journals") as "submitting corresponding authors" at no additional charge. After your article has been accepted for publication, please enter Leipzig University or Leipzig University Hospital (UKL) as your affiliated institution in the “Author Services Dashboard” (Wiley’s online management system) and choose publication form "Open Access". A continuously updated list of the journals included can be found here by applying the filter "HOA" in the column "Revenue Model".
Gold OA – Discount
Under the agreement with Wiley, a 20% discount on the APC is available for its Gold Open Access journals including Hindawi journals. The net prices (plus 7% VAT) of the DEAL agreement can be found in the list of journals (column "EUR APC, Discounted (20%)").
When submitting your article to a pure open access journal, please indicate that you are not to be invoiced personally and then select Leipzig University or Leipzig University Hospital (UKL) as your affiliated institution. Each article will be checked by Leipzig University Library for formal eligibility upon submission and, if eligible, will be centrally invoiced after acceptance.
An application for financial support of up to 2,500 € from the Open Access Publication Fund can be submitted (terms and conditions apply). Any costs which aren’t eligible for funding will be billed to the relevant department within the university.
The publisher’s website contains additional information on publishing terms under the DEAL agreement.
More information for authors is available on the DEAL website.