Effective January 1, 2024, the University of California (UC) and Taylor & Francis entered into an agreement that provides financial support to UC corresponding authors who publish open access in Taylor & Francis journals. Authors at all ten UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) are eligible for this support.
The UC libraries will cover open access publishing fees, also known as article processing charges (APCs), in full for UC corresponding authors who publish open access in Taylor & Francis journals. This agreement has two goals: (1) to support UC’s mission as a public university by making more UC-authored publications open to the world, and (2) to make it easier and more affordable for UC authors to publish open access.
Agreement Basics
What are the basic terms of the agreement?
The agreement runs from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2027, and enables UC corresponding authors to publish in nearly 2,500 Taylor & Francis journals at no cost. The agreement also includes reading access to nearly 1,300 Taylor & Francis journals.
How does the agreement work?
Under the agreement, UC corresponding authors who publish open access in Taylor & Francis journals can do so at no cost to them. Open access fees, also called “article processing charges” (APCs), will be fully and automatically covered by the UC libraries for any author who chooses open access.
UC is shifting its investment from paying to read Taylor & Francis journals to paying based on UC authors publishing in Taylor & Francis journals. Based on careful modeling of UC publication rates, baseline fees have been established, with the amounts paid in bulk by UC. The exact amounts paid will be determined by UC corresponding author choices to publish open access. Cost controls have been put in place so that the total owed by UC in any year of the agreement is bounded.
Impact for Authors
Am I affected by this agreement?
Yes, if you are (1) a UC affiliate (faculty, lecturer, staff, graduate student, etc.) at any of UC’s ten campuses or LBNL, (2) you are the article’s corresponding author, and (3) you choose to publish your article as open access in a Taylor & Francis or Routledge Open Select journal.
Who is considered a corresponding author?
Taylor & Francis considers the corresponding author to be the person listed as the contact during the submission/production/publication process, and who is identified as “Author for correspondence” on the final published article.
In general, the corresponding author is the person who oversees the manuscript and correspondence during the publication process — from manuscript corrections and proofreading, to handling the revisions and re-submission of revised manuscripts up to the acceptance of the manuscripts. The corresponding author has the authority to act on behalf of all co-authors in all matters pertaining to publication of the manuscript including supplementary material. The corresponding author acts as the point of contact for any inquiries after the paper is published.
Which articles and types of publications are covered by this agreement?
This agreement covers all articles containing original research that are accepted for publication from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2027. Other types of articles, such as editorials, announcements, and book reviews are not eligible under the agreement.
I published an article in 2024, but before the agreement was announced. Can I retroactively change my publishing decision?
Yes, you can. The agreement is retroactive to January 1, 2024. Authors who published open access between January 1, 2024, and the launch of the agreement workflow in September 2024 will be contacted by Taylor & Francis and offered a refund for any APCs already paid. Authors who published subscription access articles between January 1, 2024 and the launch of the agreement in September 2024 will be contacted by Taylor & Francis and given the option to change their articles to open access, with the APC fully covered by the new agreement.
Which Taylor & Francis journals are included in this agreement?
All Taylor & Francis hybrid and fully open access journals and Routledge Open Select journals are included in the agreement, with the exception of articles published in F1000, Peer J, and Dove Medical Press.
Article Payment Process
If I choose to publish open access, how do payments work?
Under the agreement, your APC will be fully and automatically covered by the UC libraries. After your article has been accepted in a Taylor & Francis journal, you will be notified by Taylor & Francis of the option to publish open access at no cost to you under the agreement.
To ensure that your article is properly flagged as eligible for open access coverage, it is recommended that you indicate your UC affiliation and/or use your UC email address during the submission process in the Taylor & Francis author portal.
Other than indicating your UC affiliation in the Taylor & Francis author portal and selecting the open access option, no action is needed by you as the corresponding author. You won’t receive an invoice nor will you need to seek approval from your campus library.
If you already published open access and paid the APC between January 1, 2024, and the launch of the agreement workflow in September 2024, you will be contacted by Taylor & Francis and offered a refund.
If you published under the subscription model between January 1, 2024, and the launch of the agreement workflow in September 2024, you will be contacted by Taylor & Francis and given the option to change your article to open access, with the APC fully covered by the new agreement.
More information can be found at the UC Office of Scholarly Communication Website, or by contacting Jerrold Shiroma, jshiroma@ucmerced.edu.
