Advancing open access
Elsevier’s Laura Hassink and Stuart Whayman talk about the growth of open access and what the future holds for researchers, librarians and publishers
Open access
Advancing open access to knowledge
Open access is a key part of our mission to help researchers advance science for societal progress.
Open access at Elsevier
Open access is vital to a collaborative, inclusive and transparent world of research where quality knowledge can be shared and built upon. Every day, we work to bring more insight into closer reach for the research community and the public. We offer a wide choice and flexibility for every researcher and institution around the world that wants to publish open access, without ever compromising on research quality, integrity and value.
Enabling a transition to open access
As one of the largest open access publishers in the world we are enabling a transition to open access at scale. Nearly all our 2,900 journals enable open access publishing and more than 800 of these are fully open access. In 2023 we published more than 190,000 open access articles.
Our world-leading research platforms make available 3.3 million validated open access articles and we support more than 2000 institutions with open access agreements.
Delivering high quality research
Each year, we receive around 3 million research papers from authors. Whether published open access or via subscription model, they are all rigorously reviewed by our in-house editorial teams in collaboration with 33,000 editors and 1.5 million expert reviewers around the world.
The result is over 630,000 articles in 2023 enhanced, indexed, certified, published and promoted following peer review. These processes and the assistance provided to authors along the way ensure the integrity and reliability of research and of the scientific record. Articles in Elsevier journals account for over 17% of the global research output and 28% of global citations, reinforcing our focus on quality.
Supporting every researcher and institution
We offer a broad range of choices to support every researcher and institution in accessing and publishing research. In 2023 we supported more than half a million researchers in 190 countries and territories to publish open access.
Alongside our commitment to pricing article publishing charges below market average relative to comparable quality, we have initiatives to support researchers in low- and middle-income countries. In 2023, we waived or discounted costs for nearly 80% of authors from the Global South and introduced the industry-first Geographical Pricing for Open Access initiative. This considers local economic circumstances to help researchers publish research open access.
Building open access sustainability with transformative agreements
In a series of three case studies, library leaders share their insights into the transformative agreement process. Librarians guide readers through setting goals and communicating to stakeholders, working with publishers, and implementing the agreement across their institutions.
Learn more about transformative agreements that drive cross-campus collaboration, support researchers, and sustainably expand open access.
How we are advancing open access
Find out more opens in new tab/windowResearcher perspectives
Unlocking the potential of data
We're working to help researchers and institutions store, share, discover and effectively reuse data. Effective data sharing can improve the impact, validity, reproducibility, efficiency and transparency of scientific research.
Promoting research integrity
We are committed to promoting the integrity of research through a range of activities and initiatives from free author training on publication ethics and providing transparency in author contributor roles
Free access initiatives
From researchers and students using content published in our books and journals on a daily basis to a patient who needs critical information about their treatment, Elsevier has a range of access options to ensure that everyone can access the important information they need.
Frequently asked questions
Elsevier is one of the fastest-growing open access publishers in the world. Nearly all of Elsevier's 2,900 journals now enable open access publishing, including 800 journals which are fully open access journals.
All Elsevier journals allow authors to use Green Open Access, usually after an embargo period. Green Open Access is when authors share a public version of their article, for example in their institution or funder’s repository, which would otherwise only be available to paying subscribers.
Do you support access to subscription articles in any other ways?
Elsevier makes subscription articles completely free to access in specific situations:
We offer free access to relevant research for health emergencies, as we did during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Patients and caregivers are provided with papers related to medicine and healthcare upon request to help them better understand the latest research on their conditions.
Through Research4Life opens in new tab/window, institutions in 120 low- and middle-income countries receive affordable access to nearly 100,400 peer reviewed resources. As founding member, Elsevier provides over a quarter of that content, as well as access to the abstract and citation database Scopus, and trainings for librarians.
We strive to offer researchers value for money, and we are committed to pricing our journals competitively with an underlying principle of pricing lower than the market for like-for-like quality.
Open access content and subscription content are priced separately. Open access publishing is supported by the pay-to-publish model, where authors (or others on their behalf) pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC) to enable the article to be made publicly available immediately on publication.
We set APC prices based on the following criteria:
Journal quality
The journal’s editorial and technical processes
Competitive considerations
Market conditions
Other revenue streams associated with the journal such as advertising
Elsevier’s APC prices are set on a per journal basis. Fees range between c$150 and c$10,100 US Dollars, excluding tax, with prices clearly displayed on our APC price list opens in new tab/window and on journal homepages.
Where articles are not supported by the pay-to-publish model, they are typically supported by subscription fees paid for by readers.
We set journal subscription list prices based on the following criteria:
Number of subscription articles
Journal quality
The journal’s editorial and technical processes
Competitive considerations
And other revenue streams such as commercial contributions from advertising, reprints and supplements
We are constantly striving to be more transparent in all aspects of what Elsevier does, including pricing. We try to support requests for information within the bounds allowed by financial reporting requirements and competition rules.
For authors:
We provide the price of publishing open access on each journal homepage and in a central list opens in new tab/window
We automatically notify authors who are entitled to free or discounted gold open Access, for example where there is an agreement with their institution or funder
We automatically notify authors who are entitled to free or discounted open access because they are based in a low — or middle-income country — our APC waiver policy explains this process
For librarians:
We provide a range of information opens in new tab/window about our pricing competitiveness; how our pricing corresponds to quality; and publishing model uptake across subscription and open access
We publicly announce significant agreements, including our open access pilots
We provide a list of our journal subscription prices
We describe the process we follow to calculate list prices
We describe the process to ensure we do not double dip — we also show the number of articles that are published open access, and the number which are financed through subscriptions, on each journal homepage, to allow librarians to validate this
We do not double-dip. We can be reimbursed for an article in two ways — through an Article Publishing Charge (APC) or a subscription — but we never charge for the same article twice. We have a strict no double-dipping policy.
As part of our commitment to inclusion and diversity in science we believe no researcher should be prevented from publishing in their journal of choice because of financial barriers. We support researchers from low- and middle-income countries to publish fold open access if they wish to do so. When publishing in fully open access journals, we fully waive all open access charges for authors from 69 countries (Group A opens in new tab/window) and give a 50% discount for authors from 57 countries (Group B opens in new tab/window).
For other authors, we offer a choice of journals with open access publishing charges ranging from $150 to $10,100. We will also consider requests for accommodations on a case-by-case basis for authors who are required to publish open access but do not have the financial means to do so.
Finally, we provide high quality subscription publishing options, so authors should never face a cost barrier to publishing in their journal of choice.
We strive to offer researchers real value, and we are continuing our commitment to pricing our journals competitively with an underlying principle of pricing lower than the market for like-for-like quality.
We see growth in the number of articles published through both the open access and subscription models. Subscription volumes rose by over 7% in 2020 compared to the previous year, for instance. However, we still price competitively: Elsevier’s average price change has been the lowest amongst major competitors in the last 13 years due to moderate historical price changes and this strong volume growth. At the same time, we maintain high-quality content.
Our prices for subscription articles and APCs are set completely separately. Subscription fees are based on a range of factors, as noted above.
Elsevier is piloting transformative journal opens in new tab/window status for more than 60 journals across our portfolio. You can see the full list opens in new tab/window of transformative journals and targets and visit the relevant individual journal home pages for more information.