Open Access Agreements with Publishers

Saarland University and the SULB enable members of the UdS to benefit from discounts on Open Access publishing by entering into institutional memberships, participation in consortia, and transformative Open Access agreements.

Members of Saarland University Hospital (Universitätsklinkikum des Saarlandes, UKS) also benefit from DEAL agreements with Elsevier, Springer Nature and Wiley and the Nature Transformative Agreement.

AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) with the status „corresponding author“.
  • The acceptance date is decisive: 1.1.2024 to 31.12.2026
  • The publisher offers a 15% discount on the APC of the Gold Open Access journal Science Advances.
  • Please follow the Science Advances APC Affiliation Workflow

ACM (Association for Computing Machinery)

American Institute of Physics (AIP)

  • Term of the Read and Publish agreement with AIP: 1.1.2024 bis 31.12.2026
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) with the status „corresponding author“.
  • The acceptance date is decisive
  • Eligible article type: Article
  • Central funding of Open Access Publication Fees in the hybrid subscription journals.
  • Journals included in the agreement can be found in the AIP title list 2024 (check mark in the *Publish* column).
  • The number of publications available under the agreement is limited. Allocation is based on the priority principle (first come, first serve).
  • When submitting, please refer to When you are ready to publish and the Guide for Authors from AIP.

BMJ

  • Term of  the BMJ Read and Publish Agreement of the Bayern Konsortium: 1.1.2023 to 31.12.2024
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) with the status „corresponding author“. 
  • The acceptance date is decisive
  • Eligible article types: Original Research Articles
  • Central funding of Open Access Publication Fees allows you to publish in BMJ's Standard Collection Journals (Hybrid Open Access).
  • For journals included in the agreement, see Find out if you are eligible for institutional funding for your article 
    • 1. Select your institution: Universität des Saarlandes
    • 2. How you can publish with fees covered by your institution: Selection via drop down menu *The journals that you can publish in with fees covered by the agreement*.
  • Articles will be published under the CC BY-NC license, unless the research sponsor requires the CC BY license.
  • Please refer to BMJs information for authors („What authors need to know“).

Elsevier (DEAL)

  • Term of the DEAL-Elsevier Agreement: 29.11.2023 bis 31.12.2028
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) and Saarland University Hospital (UKS) with status „submitting corresponding author“.
  • Eligible article types: Full Length Article, Review Article, Case Report, Data in Brief, Microarticle, Original Software Publication, Protocol, Replication Study, Short Communication, Short Survey, Video Article
  • Additional costs (fees for overlength, colour charges, etc.) are not part of the agreement and will be charged to the authors.

Hybrid Open Access

  • Central funding of Open Access Publication Fees in hybrid subscription journals.
  • Journals included in the agreement can be found in the Elsevier Journal title list in sheet *included* -> colum 'Bucket': Core Hybrid + CP/TL Hybrid (= Cell Press & The Lancet).

Gold Open Access

  • Financing of Article Processing Charges (APCs) by the authors. All DEAL Gold Open Access articles are invoiced to the SULB. The SULB forwards these collective invoices to the persons responsible for the APC; the fees must be paid by an *assignment object of Saarland University*.
  • Journals included in the agreement can be found in the Elsevier Journal title list in sheet *included* -> colum 'Bucket': Core Gold + CP/TL Gold (= Cell Press Gold & The Lancet Gold).
  • The discounted fees (net) can be found in column O 'DEAL Cost Contribution (current)'.
    • Core Gold = You receive a 20% discount on the APC list price.
    • CP/TL Gold (= Cell Press Gold & The Lancet Gold) = You receive a 15% discount on the APC list price.

Frontiers

  • Term of the Gold Open Access Agreement: 01.05.2024 bis 31.12.2026
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) with the status „corresponding author“.
  • The publisher offers a 10% discount on the Article Processing Charge (APC).
  • Affiliation verification is done via the email domain of the „corresponding author“.

Hogrefe: PsyJOURNALS

Karger Publishing House

  • Term of the Publish & Read agreement with Karger: 1.1.2024 to 31.12.2026
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) with the status „corresponding author“.
  • The acceptance date is decisive
  • Eligible article types: Research Article, Systematic Review, Case Report, Meta Analyse, Methods Article
  • Central funding of Open Access Publication Fees in the hybrid subscription journals.
  • Journals included in the agreement can be found at Karger-Titelliste 2024-2026 (Table: Subscription Titles).
  • The publisher also offers a 15% discount on the Article Processing Charges (APCs)of the Gold Open Access journals: Karger-Titelliste 2024-2026 (Table: Gold Open Access Titles).
  • When submitting articles, please follow Karger's submission guidelines and indicate your affiliation with Saarland University (UdS).

MDPI

  • Participant in MDPI's Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP): 2018 until 31.07.2025
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) with the status „corresponding author“.
  • The Submission Date is decisive
  • 10% discount on Article Processing Charges (APCs) and Book Processing Charges (BPCs) of MDPI Books.
  • Affiliation verification is done via the email domain of the „corresponding author“. Please submit your article from the UdS IP area.

National Academy of Sciences (NAS): Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

  • Term of contract: 1.1.2024 to 31.12.2024
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) with the status „corresponding author“.
  • The acceptance date is decisive
  • Eligible article type: Regular research article
  • The publisher offers a discount on the Article Processing Charges (APCs) for 'Immediate Open Access'. You can find the current discount on the PNAS website Publication Charges.

The Open Library of the Humanities (OLH)

  • The non-profit organization Open Library of Humanities (OLH) publishes quality-assessed Open Access journals with a focus on the humanities and social sciences.
  • Open Access publishing at OLH is free of charge to authors.
  • Funding is secured through grants from libraries, and SULB has also been contributing since 2019.

RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry)

  • Term of the RSC Journals / Platinum contract: 1.1.2024 bis 31.12.2027
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) with the status „submitting corresponding author“.
  • The acceptance date is decisive
  • Eligible article types: all article types *except* Comment, Correction, Editorial and Retraction
  • Central funding of Open Access Publication Fees.
  • Journals included in the agreement can be found on Titelliste RSC Platinum - Publish.
  • Articles will be published by default under the CC BY license.
  • Affiliation verification is done via the email domain of the „corresponding author“. Please use your UdS email address for submission and communication with the publisher and refer to the information under Read & Publish author guidelines.

Springer Nature (Nature and the Nature research journals)

  • Term of the Nature Transformative Agreement: 1.1.2022 to 31.12.2024
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) and Saarland University Hospital (UKS) with „corresponding author“ status.
  • The publication date is decisive
  • Eligible article type: Primary Research Article
  • Central funding of Open Access Publication Fees (Nature and further Nature research journals).
  • Nature-Journals included in the agreement can be found in the list of eligible journals, column E *Nature OA Publishing*: Y
  • Please refer to the Author Guide.

Springer Nature (DEAL)

  • Term of the DEAL Springer Nature agreement: 1.1.2024 bis 31.12.2028
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) and Saarland University Hospital (UKS) with status „corresponding author“.
  • Additional costs (fees for overlength, colour charges, etc.) are not part of the agreement and will be charged to the authors. Information on additional fees can be found in the *Submission Guidelines* of the journals.

Hybrid Open Access

  • Central funding of Open Access Publication Fees in hybrid subscription journals.
  • Journals included in the agreement can be found in the Springer Nature Journal title list in the table sheet *included*, entry in column H 'Publishing Model': Hybrid (Open Choice)
  • Eligible article types: Research Article (= Original Paper, Review Paper, Brief Communication) and Non-Research Article (= Editorial Notes, Book Review, Letter, Report).
    • Contractual exception: „Note on Springer Nature medical journals (Facharztzeitschriften): Articles in these journals will only be published Open Access under DEAL if they are a) not submitted by invitation (e.g. via a call for papers) and b) of the type „research article“. Non-research articles in journals are excluded from the agreement". Facharztzeitschriften can be found in the Springer Nature Journal title list, table sheet *included*, entry in column I, entry *yes*.

Gold Open Access

  • Financing of Article Processing Charges (APCs) by the authors. All DEAL Gold Open Access articles are invoiced to the SULB. The SULB forwards these collective invoices to the persons responsible for the APC; the fees must be paid by an *assignment object of Saarland University*.
  • Journals included in the agreement can be found in the Springer Nature Journal title list in the table sheet *included*, entry in column H 'Publishing Model': Fully Open Access
  • Eligible Article Type: Research Article (= Original Paper, Review Paper, Brief Communication)
  • You receive a 20% discount on the APC list price of SpringerOpen and BioMedCentral (BMC) journals. You will receive a lower discount on the APC of the journals in the *Nature Portfolio* (e.g. Nature Communications). The discounted fees (net) can be found in column J 'Current DEAL Cost Contribution (2024)'.

Wiley (DEAL)

  • Term of the DEAL Wiley agreement: 1.1.2024 bis 31.12.2028
  • Eligible authors: Members of Saarland University (UdS) and Saarland University Hospital (UKS) with status „Responsible corresponding author“.
  • Eligible article types: Primary Research Article und Review Article
  • Additional costs (fees for overlength, colour charges, etc.) are not part of the agreement and will be charged to the authors.

Hybrid Open Access

  • Central funding of Open Access Publication Fees in hybrid subscription journals.
  • Journals included in the agreement can be found in the Wiley journal title list in the table sheet *included* -> entry in column G 'Revenue Model': HOA (= Hybrid Open Access)

Gold Open Access

  • Financing of Article Processing Charges (APCs) by the authors. All DEAL Gold Open Access articles are invoiced to the SULB. The SULB forwards these collective invoices to the persons responsible for the APC; the fees must be paid by an *assignment object of Saarland University*.
  • Journals included in the agreement can be found in the Wiley journal title list in the table sheet *included* -> entry in column G 'Revenue Model': OA (= Open Access).
  • You receive a 20% discount on the APC list price. The discounted fees (net) can be found in column N 'EUR APC, Discounted (20%)' respectively O 'EUR Referral APC, Discounted (20%)'.