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Open Access FAQ

Information and resources addressing frequently asked questions about open access publishing

Read & Publish Transformative Agreements

A Read-and-Publish agreement is an agreement in which the publisher receives payment for reading and payment for publishing bundled into a single contract. This bundling together brings payment for publishing into a contractual arrangement rather than being addressed ad hoc by individual authors who are choosing open access publishing.

Hinchliffe, L. J. (2019, April 23). Transformative agreements: A primer. The Scholarly Kitchen.

For questions about Vassar's publisher agreements, please email Deb Bucher (debucher@vassar.edu) Head of Collections & Discovery. 

Publishers (APC Waivers & Discounts)

Company of Biologists

Vassar's agreement with the Company of Biologists allows Vassar researchers to publish open access free of charge and provides access to current and archived content.

Journals
  • Development
  • Journal of Cell Science
  • Journal of Experimental Biology
  • Disease Models & Mechanisms
  • Biology Open

From TCoB: The Company of Biologists is a not-for-profit publishing organisation dedicated to supporting and inspiring the biological community. The Company of Biologists has been committed to Open Access since 2004 because we believe that immediate and free availability of high-quality research helps us to achieve our mission of advancing excellence in the biological and biomedical sciences worldwide.

PLOS - Public Library of Science

Vassar authors can publish free of charge in all PLOS journals.

From PLOS: PLOS publishes a suite of influential Open Access journals across all areas of science and medicine. Rigorously reported, peer reviewed and immediately available without restrictions, promoting the widest readership and impact possible. We encourage you to consider the scope of each journal before submission, as journals are editorially independent and specialized in their publication criteria and breadth of content.

Current Journals

(more forthcoming) 

  • PLOS Biology
  • PLOS Climate
  • PLOS Complex Systems
  • PLOS Computational Biology
  • PLOS Digital Health
  • PLOS Genetics
  • PLOS Global Public Health
  • PLOS Medicine
  • PLOS Mental Health
  • PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
  • PLOS ONE
  • PLOS Pathogens
  • PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
  • PLOS Water
ACS: American Chemical Society Read & Publish Program, 2023-2025

Publish open access in any ACS journal free of charge. All ACS journals are included in this program. This is a three year program specifically offered to undergraduate institutions.

From ACS: ACS publishes 16 fully open access journals and 70+ hybrid journals. Learn more about publishing open access in our complete portfolio of journals on the ACS Open Science site.

Cambridge University Press

Vassar faculty can publish open access at no cost in Cambridge journals. This agreement also expands our access to Cambridge journals from 81 titles to over 400 Cambridge journals!

From Cambridge: Cambridge University Press is proud to publish many of the world's leading journals across a wide range of subject areas in the humanities, social sciences and STM fields. We currently publish more than 360 peer-reviewed academic journals.

Oxford University Press

Vassar authors can now publish their journals articles open access, without incurring author fees, when publishing in OUP hybrid and fully OA journals. This agreement also expands our access to OUP journals. 

From OUP: OUP publishes more than 500 of the highest quality journals, two-thirds of which are published in partnership with learned societies, charitable organisations, and prestigious institutions.