Elsevier Open Access Agreement FAQ

Introduction

After more than two years of negotiations, in March 2021, the University of California announced a transformative open access agreement with Elsevier, the world’s largest academic publisher.  

The four-year agreement goes into effect on April 1, 2021, restoring LBNL’s direct online access to Elsevier journals while accomplishing the university and lab’s two goals for all publisher agreements:

(1)   Enabling universal open access to all LBNL research; and

(2)   Containing the excessively high costs associated with licensing journals.

These goals directly support LBNL’s responsibility as a steward of public funds and their mission to make their research freely available.

Terms of the Agreement

The four-year agreement runs from April 1, 2021, through March 2025 and incorporates open access publishing. Also, the agreement restores LBNL’s reading access to Elsevier’s journal titles and upholds the university’s goal to manage its costs for academic journal subscriptions responsibly.  

This agreement provides: 

• Reading access for Elsevier journals: Effective April 1, LBNL will regain access to articles published in Elsevier journals that the libraries subscribed to before, plus other journals to which LBNL previously did not subscribe.

• Open access publishing in Elsevier journals: LBNL researchers can publish OA in more than 2,300 Elsevier journals with significant library support: 

• A reduced article processing charge for all articles (15% for most journals; 10% for journals from Cell Press and The Lancet)

• Complete coverage of the article processing charge by the library for authors who do not have access to grant funding

• Partial coverage of the article processing charge by the library for authors who can contribute from their grant funding

Open access will now be the default option for UC/LBNL corresponding authors, although authors may opt-out if they wish.

For Authors

Are UC/LBNL Authors Affected by this Agreement?

Yes, if you are: 

1. An LBNL author or a UC affiliate (faculty, lecturer, staff, graduate student), AND

2. You are the article’s corresponding author, AND

3. You choose to publish your article open access in Elsevier’s titles (see below under “Which journals are included in the agreement?”)

When you choose to publish your article open access in these Elsevier journals, UC has negotiated a deal that makes it more cost-effective for you to do so. Suppose you want to publish in Elsevier journals but do not want your article to be open access. In that case, you can still publish your article as paywalled content (available only to those with a paid subscription to the journal). 

All LBNL employees and UC faculty, lecturers, staff, and students have access to read articles published in Elsevier journals the libraries subscribed to before, plus other journals to which LBNL previously did not subscribe.

Who is considered a corresponding author?

Elsevier defines a corresponding author as the individual who takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process. 

Typically, the corresponding author also ensures that all the journal’s administrative requirements, such as providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and gathering conflict of interest forms and statements, are appropriately completed. However, these duties may be delegated to one or more co-authors.

Why am I being asked to use program funds?

The LBNL libraries are committed to paying a substantial share of the article processing charge for all UC authors, including full payment for authors who do not have grant funds available. However, the libraries’ budget alone cannot cover the total cost of open access publishing for every LBNL author while also continuing to pay for subscription access where needed.

Every author’s contribution is important and significant because even with library support, authors’ research funds continue to play a critical role in funding open access publications. The funding model for this Agreement depends upon authors who do have funds paying their share of the Article Processing Charge (APC). 

In general, publication costs can be charged to federal grants in the U.S. By contributing grant funds, particularly from federal agencies, LBNL authors demonstrate their commitment to making their publicly-funded research accessible to the public. Open Access publishing remains the simplest way to comply with the Department of Energy's public access mandate, although other routes to compliance are available to authors." Additionally, participating in this way ensures the pool of available funds for LBNL authors who do not have grant funding will be available to support their open access publishing.

What if I don't have any grant money? Can I still publish open access with Elsevier?

You can still publish your article with open access. If you do not have grant money or your grant funds are insufficient to cover the remainder of the article processing charge beyond the libraries’ standard contribution, the LBNL libraries will pay your full Article Processing Charge pr APC.

What types of publications are covered by this agreement?

This agreement covers all articles included in the journals outlined below (see under “Which journals are included in the agreement?”), as long as they have the option for paying a fee for open access (an Article Processing Charge or APC).  These include:

• full length articles

• short communications

• short surveys

• reviews

• data in brief

• case reports

• microarticles

• original software publications

• video articles

• insights

• protocols

Which journals are included in the agreement?

The agreement will provide for open access publishing of LBNL research in Elsevier hybrid and fully open access journals, totaling nearly 2,300 Elsevier journals. However, a limited number of societies that partner with Elsevier for their publishing have chosen to exclude their journals from transformative agreements, so their journals are not eligible for either reading, publishing, or both under the agreement.  A list of these exclusions will be available soon.

All Cell Press and Lancet journals are part of the UC agreement. For these top journals, UC shared funding model — where the libraries share the cost of open access publishing with authors — will be phased in, with all Cell Press and Lancet journals integrated no later than 2023, midway through the four-year agreement. Until these journals are phased in to the agreement, UC corresponding authors publishing in Cell Press and Lancet journals can still choose to publish open access; authors will receive a 10% discount on the open access fee (known as an Article Publishing Charge or APC) from day one, but will not receive additional library support until these journals are integrated into the contract.

1: A small number of societies that publish with Elsevier have opted out of Elsevier’s transformative agreements for the purposes of OA publishing and/or reading.  A list will be available in the near future.

2: Seven Cell Press journals which previously allowed hybrid OA publishing will be included for OA publishing from the start of the agreement, along with the full OA Cell Press and The Lancet journals.  All other Premium journals will be included for OA publishing by April 2023, or earlier if finances allow.

If I publish open access under this agreement, will I retain rights/copyright to my own work?

No, but the University of California will retain rights/copyright to your own work. As an employee at LBNL, you signed an Intellectual Property Acknowledgement in which you have assigned copyright to your works to the University of California. One of the benefits of publishing open access under this agreement is that the University of California retains copyright to your work.  The Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license will be the default selection. Please select the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC BY NC ND) license.  You can learn more about these Creative Commons license options here.

What if I don't want to publish open access? Can I still publish with Elsevier?

Yes. Where and how you publish is your decision. The agreement with Elsevier does not mandate open access publishing nor does it dictate your journal selection. Rather, it makes open access publishing a more affordable option for most Elsevier journals, and you can opt out. 

If I choose to publish open access, how do payments work?

Beginning April 1, 2021, if you are a UC/LBNL corresponding author of an Elsevier article in one of the eligible journals, at the time your article is accepted, you will be presented with the option for open access publication, which will appear as a default choice.

For authors who elect open access, a contribution of $1,000 from the UC/LBNL libraries towards the open access fee for the article will be made automatically. If there is any remaining balance due on the fee (beyond the $1,000), Elsevier will ask UC/LBNL authors if they have research funding available to cover the balance and, if not, the UC/LBNL libraries will pay the rest of the open access fee as well.  Authors who contribute research grant funds towards the remaining balance will be asked to supply invoicing information for payment.  The UC/LBNL library payments will be handled directly between the UC libraries and Elsevier with no action required by the author.

Authors will still have the option to decline the open access option and publish their articles on a subscription (pay-to-read) basis if they so choose.

Every author contribution is important and significant, because even with library support, authors’ research funds continue to play a critical role in funding open access publication. The funding model for this Agreement depends upon authors who do have funds paying their share of the Article Publishing Charge or APC.