VCU Libraries Publishing Fee Support

VCU authors receive a $250 discount on open access article publishing fees in American Chemical Society (ACS) hybrid open access journals, based on VCU's status as a subscribing institution. An additional discount of $500 is available if VCU authors are individual ACS members.

The total publishing fee amount varies based on which Creative Commons license authors select for their articles and whether authors make articles open access immediately upon publication or with a 12-month delay.

Open access article processing charges for all Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) journals, magazines, and proceedings are covered by VIVA (Virginia's academic library consortium) from October 1, 2021 to December 31, 2024. However, books and book chapters are not included.

Author Instructions

1. VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author, both in the submission system and in your manuscript.
2. Corresponding authors must use their VCU email address and list Virginia Commonwealth University as their institutional affiliation.
3. Upon acceptance of a manuscript for publication, corresponding authors will receive a link to the ACM Open Author eRights platform via email from the journal editor.
4. Corresponding authors can select "Institutionally Paid Open Access / Permissions Release" from the available rights offerings.
5. Upon selection of the ACM Open OA option, authors are asked to select their choice of Creative Commons license.
6. Following submission of the eRights form, authors will receive email confirmation of the form's acceptance along with a copy for their records. 

VCU's subscription to Cambridge University Press journals includes coverage of publishing fees for open access articles published in certain fully open access journals or subscription journals with an open access option (hybrid journals). This agreement is in place from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024. Please see the link below for the Cambridge UP open access waiver tool that provides a full list of eligible journals.

Author Instructions

1. VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author, both in the submission system and in your manuscript.
2. Corresponding authors must use their VCU email address and list Virginia Commonwealth University as their institutional affiliation.
3. Article types eligible for coverage are research articles, review articles, rapid communications, brief reports and case reports.
4. Articles must be accepted for publication on or after January 1, 2022.
5. Upon acceptance of a manuscript for publication, corresponding authors should choose the open access publishing option and select their choice of Creative Commons licenses.
6. Once your publishing fee coverage has been approved, you will receive an email confirmation.

VCU's subscription to De Gruyter journals includes coverage of article processing charges for VCU-authored articles published in hybrid open access journals. Fully open access journals are not eligible for coverage.

Author Instructions

1. VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author, both in the submission system and in your manuscript.
2. Corresponding authors must use their VCU email address and list Virginia Commonwealth University as their institutional affiliation.
3. Monitor your email inbox. Once your article has been accepted for publication, you should receive an email confirming that VCU will cover the APC. If you do not receive confirmation of this, or if you are asked to pay an APC, please contact Hilary Miller at hmiller5@vcu.edu.

Article processing charges for IWA journals listed below are covered by VIVA (Virginia’s academic library consortium) from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2025. 

Author Eligibility

• To qualify, a VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author of the article.
• Corresponding authors must use their VCU email address and list Virginia Commonwealth University as their institutional affiliation.

Journal Eligibility

Subscribe to Open Titles:

• Aqua (0003-7214; 1605-3974)
• Journal of Hydroinformatics (1464-7141; 1465-1734)
• Journal of Water and Climate Change (2040-2244; 2408-9354)
• Journal of Water and Health (1477-8920; 1996-7829)
• Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development (2043-9083; 2408-9362)
• Water Policy (1366-7017; 1996-9759)
• Water Practice & Technology (1751-231X; 1751-231X)
• Water Quality Research Journal (1201-3080; 2408-9443)
• Water Science & Technology (0273-1223; 1996-9732)
• Water Supply (1606-9749; 1607-0798)

Gold Open Access Titles:

• Blue-Green Systems (2617-4782)
• H2Open Journal (2616-6518)
• Hydrology Research (0029-1277; 2224-7955)
• Journal of Water Reuse and Desalination (2220-1319; 2408-9370)

Author Instructions

Article processing charges for most (but not all) IOP journals are covered by VIVA (Virginia’s academic library consortium) from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2024. 

Author Eligibility

• VCU faculty (of any rank or type) and graduate students are eligible.
• To qualify, a VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author of the article.

Journal Eligibility

• Publishing fees for American Astronomical Society (AAS) journals cannot be included in IOP transformative agreements at this time.
• All fees related to open access on eligible articles are covered; other charges such as page or color charges are not included and will continue to be charged to authors. 

Author Instructions

The Open Library of Humanities (OLH) is a peer-reviewed, open access journal platform for the humanities. OLH journals do not charge any author fees because their costs are covered by an international consortium of supporting institutions, including VCU Libraries.

Article processing charges for articles published in all PLOS journals, including the interdisciplinary journal PLOS ONE, are covered by VCU's institutional partnership with PLOS from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024.

Author Instructions for Community Action Publishing (CAP) Journals

The Community Action Publishing (CAP) model applies to the journals PLOS Biology, PLOS Medicine, and PLOS Sustainability and Transformation.

1. VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author in the submission system.
2. Corresponding authors must use their VCU email address and list Virginia Commonwealth University as their institutional affiliation.
3. When you complete your article submission, you will be shown a summary of the article publication fees and the option to view a "quote" of your expected fees, which should take into account the institutional coverage. You do not need to take any action until your article is accepted for publication.
4. When your article is accepted for publication, you will be prompted to complete your acceptance.

5. If at any time in the process, the quote of your expected fees does not reflect the institutional coverage, contact authorbilling@plos.org to ensure that the system correctly waives your fees.

Author Instructions for all other PLOS journals

These instructions apply to the journals PLOS ONE, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Digital Health, PLOS Genetics, PLOS Public Health, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, PLOS Pathogens, and PLOS Water.

1. VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author in the submission system.
2. Corresponding authors must use their VCU email address and list Virginia Commonwealth University as their institutional affiliation.
3. Within the submission system, navigate to the "Additional Information" section, and scroll to the "Publication Fees" section.
4. Select "My institution will fully or partially pay the fee as a member of the PLOS Institutional Account Program."
5. Select "Virginia Commonwealth University" from the drop down menu. Once you make this selection, no further action is required.

Article processing charges for articles published in Rockefeller University Press (RUP) hybrid journals are covered by VIVA (Virginia's academic library consortium) from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023. 

Author Instructions

1. Choose from one of RUP's three hybrid journals: Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), and Journal of General Physiology (JGP). To qualify, the article must be accepted for publication between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023.
2. VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author, both in the submission system and in the manuscript. 
3. Upon submission of manuscripts, corresponding authors will be asked to validate their institution; Virginia Commonwealth University must be indicated as the author's institution.
4. Upon acceptance, articles will be published open access under a Creative Commons CC-BY license, directly deposited to PubMed Central (PMC) and subsequently to Europe PMC, and archived in LOCKSS/CLOCKSS and Portico.

VCU's subscription to Royal Society of Chemistry journals includes coverage of article processing charges for up to 18 VCU authored articles published in hybrid open access journals each year. RSC classifies all of their journals as hybrid, except their fully open access journals (also called "gold open access journals") and Chemistry Education Research and Practice (CERP). 

Fully open access journals are eligible for a 15% discount on article processing charges.

Author Instructions for Hybrid Journals

1. VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author, both in the submission system and in the manuscript.
2. Corresponding authors must use their VCU email address and list Virginia Commonwealth University as their institutional affiliation.
3. When the article is accepted for publication, do not sign the standard publishing license. Instead, choose and sign either the CC BY or CC BY-NC open access license.

Author Instructions for Fully Open Access Journals

Fully open access journals (also called gold open access journals) are eligible for a 15% discount on article processing charges.

1. VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author, both in the submission system and in your manuscript.
2. Corresponding authors must use their VCU email address and list Virginia Commonwealth University as their institutional affiliation.

Article processing charges for fully open access Wiley journals and subscription journals with an open access option (hybrid journals) are covered by VIVA (Virginia’s academic library consortium) from January 1, 2022 to 2024.

Publishing fees for Hindawi journals are not covered by this agreement.

Eligibility

• VCU faculty (of any rank or type) and graduate students are eligible.
• To qualify, a VCU author must be listed as the corresponding author of the article.
• If you have grant funds that can be used to cover publication costs, VIVA asks that you use these in lieu of requesting VIVA funds for your publication.
• Funding is covered for original research articles, review articles, and case reports in Wiley journals (Hindawi journals are not covered by this agreement). Please contact Hillary Miller at hmiller5@vcu.edu with questions about eligibility for other submission types or see the spreadsheet linked below.

Author Instructions for Hybrid Journals

1. Choose from one of Wiley's hybrid open access journals (subscription journals with an open access option). To qualify for coverage, manuscripts must be accepted for publication after January 1, 2022.
2. Once your article is accepted, login to Wiley Author Services. Under "My Articles," look for your article and click "Manage Article." Look for a message confirming your eligibility and click "Select Open Access."
3. If prompted, confirm your affiliation with Virginia Commonwealth University.
4. When your request is approved, you will receive a confirmation email, and your article will be published open access under a Creative Commons license on Wiley Online Library. 

Author Instructions for Fully Open Access Journals

Publishing fees for Hindawi journals are not covered by this agreement.

1. Choose from one of Wiley's fully open access journals. To qualify for coverage, manuscripts must be submitted after January 1, 2022.
2. When you submit your article to Wiley's manuscript submission system, look up and enter VCU’s account code when prompted. 
3. When your request is approved, you will receive a confirmation email, and your article will be published open access under a Creative Commons license on Wiley Online Library.