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Where you can publish without paying APCs.

A directory of publishers and journals where Wright State faculty (and faculty at other consortium universities) can publish open access without paying article processing charges, because the library already covers it. Linked to authoritative library guides so the list stays accurate as deals change.

How to read this page: Each section names a university consortium or agency, then lists the publishers and journals that consortium has a Read & Publish or APC-waiver deal with. "Free for you" means your library has prepaid the APC, but you typically need to (1) submit using your institutional email and (2) identify yourself as the corresponding author. Always check the live library guide; deals change year to year.

Wright State & OhioLINK your institution

Wright State University is a member of OhioLINK, which negotiates open-access publishing agreements on behalf of all member institutions in Ohio. Faculty publish without paying the APC on covered journals.

Read & Publish agreements (OhioLINK consortium)

Cambridge University Press Most CUP hybrid + gold OA journals covered.
Elsevier Selected Elsevier journals via OhioLINK. Check covered-titles list.
Karger Medical/clinical journals; APC waiver for corresponding authors.
MDPI APC discount or waiver on many MDPI journals.
PLOS PLOS ONE, PLOS Medicine, PLOS Biology, plus community journals.
Royal Society Most Royal Society Publishing OA journals.
Springer Nature Hybrid Springer journals; check Nature-branded coverage separately.
Wiley Hybrid + gold OA across most Wiley journals.
IOP Publishing Physics, materials, applied science.
Optica (formerly OSA) Optics, photonics, applied physics.
Microbiology Society Microbiology, virology, microbial genomics.
Company of Biologists Development, Journal of Cell Science, Disease Models & Mechanisms.

Authoritative links (check before submitting)

Always confirm with your subject librarian. APC agreements change year to year; specific journal coverage within a publisher can shift; "fully covered" can mean different things for hybrid vs gold OA journals. The library's scholarly communication librarian is the authoritative source for what is and isn't covered today.

DOAJ — the always-free starting point

The Directory of Open Access Journals lists thousands of journals that are open-access by default. Many charge no APC at all. This is the first place to look regardless of where you teach.

Federally funded? Use PubMed Central.

Research funded by NIH, NSF, NASA, USDA, and most federal agencies is subject to the OSTP "Nelson Memo" public-access mandate. Deposit the accepted manuscript in PubMed Central or your agency's repository. This is FREE and is often a grant compliance requirement.

Other major US consortia

If your students or collaborators are at one of these systems, similar APC-waiver agreements apply. Always check the consortium page for current coverage.

Tools to check a specific journal

Before you commit to a target journal, run it through one of these. Each answers a slightly different question.

Already published behind a paywall? Try green OA.

Many publishers allow you to deposit the accepted-manuscript version of a published paper in your institutional repository (Wright State's is CORE Scholar). This is free and makes your work open access without re-submitting. Check the publisher's policy in Sherpa Romeo.

One more thing: "No APC" does not mean "easy publication." Open-access journals with no APC still peer-review, still reject, and still take time. They are also more likely to be small, specialist, or niche, which can be a feature or a bug depending on your audience. Run the journal through the Reviewer Panel tool in Office Hours if you want a read on fit before you submit.