Agreement between University of California and Elsevier
Elsevier and University of California (UC) have established an agreement to support affiliated authors who wish to publish open access.
This agreement helps UC authors to publish their research open access in Elsevier journals via a discount on the APC, as well as support from the UC libraries.
During the post-acceptance author journey, UC authors will automatically receive a discount on the APC, and at least the first $1,000 of the remaining APC will be covered by the UC libraries when authors publish in an eligible title.
If there is any remaining balance due on the APC, UC authors will be asked if they have research funding available to cover the balance. If an author does not have research funds available, the UC libraries will pay the entire APC on the author’s behalf.
How does the process work?
The process of publishing under the agreement is straightforward:
Step 1 – Once the journal accepts your article, you will receive an email containing a link to the “post acceptance author journey”.
Step 2 – You will be asked to review your affiliation and funder details. Based on this information, you will see personalised publishing options including the option to publish under the agreement.
Step 3 – You will confirm your publishing choices and complete the post acceptance journey.
Step 4 – Your institution will validate your eligibility for the agreement
Step 5 – You and your co-authors will receive an email to confirm that the APC discount will be applied, and at least the first $1,000 of the remaining APC will be covered by the UC libraries. If there is any remaining balance due on the APC, you will be asked if you have research funding available to cover the balance. If you do not have research funds available, the UC libraries will pay the entire APC on your behalf.
During the submission process, the system will present you with personalized publishing options, including any agreement or offer that you may be eligible for. You can indicate your publishing choice during submission, but you are not required to finalize your choice until after acceptance.
Which institutions are covered by this agreement?
This agreement supports corresponding authors (see FAQ at the bottom of this page) affiliated with a participating University of California institution.
Which journals are included in this agreement?
Authors can publish eligible articles (see FAQ at the bottom of this page) in a wide variety of participating Elsevier journals across a range of disciplines.
What are the author benefits of publishing open access with Elsevier?
When you publish open access with Elsevier, you get the attention you deserve. We offer authors:
Choice – We have open access journals across every scientific discipline.
Support – Receive expert support throughout submission, during peer review, and post-acceptance.
Visibility – Your final published article will be published on ScienceDirect, the number one research platform in the world.
To learn more about the benefits of publishing open access with Elsevier visit our Open Access Author Hub.
Are there other publishing options?
Authors can continue to choose to publish under the subscription model which includes the option to self-archive their manuscript in line with Elsevier’s sharing policy.
Eligibility FAQs
Articles must have an original acceptance date between 1 April 2021 and 21 March 2025.
For the purpose of eligibility under the agreement, there can only be one corresponding author. The corresponding author is the author who submits the manuscript and other documentation to the journal and is the primary contact between the journal and the co-authors. Importantly, the corresponding author’s affiliation will be used to determine eligibility for the publishing agreement. The affiliations of other co-authors are not relevant for agreement eligibility.
The corresponding author’s responsibilities include:
Ensuring that all authors have complied with the journal’s policies, including reviewing and approving the final version of the manuscript prior to submission.
Distributing and responding to communications from the journal (e.g., decision letters, reviewers’ reports).
Completing the post publication author journey including signing the Journal Publishing License Agreement, Rights and Access information form, and selection of open access options on behalf of, and with the agreement of, all co-authors of the paper.
Journals may follow requests of the team of authors and display other corresponding authors in the published article. Which corresponding authors are displayed on the published paper, however, is not relevant for agreement eligibility.
With this agreement, authors have a choice between a commercial (CC BY) or non-commercial (CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY-NC) license. The license choice is dependent on the journal selected. Please refer to the journal's homepage for specific details.
The following article types are part of this agreement:
Case reports
Data in Briefs
Full-length articles
Micro-articles
Original software publication
Practice guidelines
Protocols
Review articles
Replication studies
Short communications
Short surveys
Video articles