| Update as of January 29, 2026:The University of California is currently in negotiation with ACS for an agreement for 2026. Content access is not interrupted at this time, but ACS has not confirmed whether the publishing terms below will continue in the interim. Authors choosing to publish open access should confirm APC costs with ACS during the final article submission process. |
As of May 13, 2022, the University of California, together with the California State University (CSU) and members of the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC), entered into a transformative open access agreement with the American Chemical Society (ACS), the first such California-wide agreement.
The three-year agreement, effective January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025, provides readers and researchers at nearly 60 California research institutions – including all 10 UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – with access to subscription content while allowing authors at the participating institutions to publish open access in ACS’ portfolio of over 75 chemistry journals at a reduced cost.
The goal of the agreement is to enable authors from UC, CSU, and SCELC institutions to transition from the traditional ”read-only” subscription model to a transformative model that makes it easier and more affordable for authors to publish open access. As with UC’s other transformative agreements, the agreement supports UC’s mission as a public university and advances the global shift toward sustainable open access publishing by making more UC-authored research articles open to the world, while containing the university’s journal-related expenditures.
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Agreement Basics
What are the basic terms of the agreement?
The agreement runs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025 and covers open access publishing in the American Chemical Society’s hybrid (subscription-based) and fully open access journals. It includes all ten UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
How does the agreement work?
Under the agreement, all UC authors who choose to publish open access in an ACS journal can do so by paying a single, discounted APC (article processing charge) of $3,000; APCs currently listed below $3000 will remain so. For details, see below under “Article Payment Process.”
UC has shifted its investment from paying to read ACS journals to paying based on UC authors publishing in ACS journals. Based on careful modeling of UC publication rates, baseline fees have been established, with these amounts paid in bulk by UC. The exact amounts paid will be determined by UC corresponding author choices to publish open access, and how many authors pay the discounted APC using their research funds.
Cost controls have been put in place so that the total owed by UC in any year of the agreement is bounded, and APC rates will remain the same throughout the term of the agreement.
Impact for Authors
Am I affected by this agreement?
Yes, if you are (1) a UC affiliate (faculty, lecturer, staff, student) at one of UC’s campuses or the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, (2) you are the article’s corresponding author, and (3) you choose to publish your article open access in an ACS journal.
If you want to publish your article open access, UC has negotiated a deal that will make it more cost effective for you to do so. If you want to publish in an ACS journal but do not want to publish open access, you can still publish your article as paywalled (pay-to-read or subscription only) content.
The agreement also continues to provide reading access to ACS journals for all UC-affiliated faculty, lecturers, staff, students and clinicians.
Only corresponding authors are covered by the publishing aspects of this agreement.
Who is considered a corresponding author?
ACS considers the corresponding author to be the person listed as the contact person 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?
All articles in American Chemical Society journals are covered by this agreement.
The agreement will apply to articles accepted from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025,
Which American Chemical Society journals are included in this agreement?
All ACS journals are included in this agreement.
Article Payment Process
If I choose to publish open access, how do payments work?
If you are a UC corresponding author and your article was accepted during this period, you will be notified and given instructions for how to publish open access with the discount in ACS’ Journal Publish Agreement system.
What if I don't want to publish open access? Can I still publish with ACS?
Yes. While the UC Academic Senate strongly recommends choosing the open access option, where and how you publish is your decision. The agreement with ACS does not mandate open access publishing, nor does it dictate your journal selection. Rather, it makes the open access publishing option for ACS journals more affordable. As with UC’s other open access agreements, you can opt out.
Resources
What if I have questions or need help?
More information is available via:
Or from your campus library:
The agreement runs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025 and covers open access publishing in the American Chemical Society’s hybrid (subscription-based) and fully open access journals. It includes all ten UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
How does the agreement work?
Under the agreement, all UC authors who choose to publish open access in an ACS journal can do so by paying a single, discounted APC (article processing charge) of $3,000; APCs currently listed below $3000 will remain so. For details, see below under “Article Payment Process.”
UC has shifted its investment from paying to read ACS journals to paying based on UC authors publishing in ACS journals. Based on careful modeling of UC publication rates, baseline fees have been established, with these amounts paid in bulk by UC. The exact amounts paid will be determined by UC corresponding author choices to publish open access, and how many authors pay the discounted APC using their research funds.
Cost controls have been put in place so that the total owed by UC in any year of the agreement is bounded, and APC rates will remain the same throughout the term of the agreement.
Impact for Authors
Am I affected by this agreement?
Yes, if you are (1) a UC affiliate (faculty, lecturer, staff, student) at one of UC’s campuses or the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, (2) you are the article’s corresponding author, and (3) you choose to publish your article open access in an ACS journal.
If you want to publish your article open access, UC has negotiated a deal that will make it more cost effective for you to do so. If you want to publish in an ACS journal but do not want to publish open access, you can still publish your article as paywalled (pay-to-read or subscription only) content.
The agreement also continues to provide reading access to ACS journals for all UC-affiliated faculty, lecturers, staff, students and clinicians.
Only corresponding authors are covered by the publishing aspects of this agreement.
Who is considered a corresponding author?
ACS considers the corresponding author to be the person listed as the contact person 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?
All articles in American Chemical Society journals are covered by this agreement.
The agreement will apply to articles accepted from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025,
Which American Chemical Society journals are included in this agreement?
All ACS journals are included in this agreement.
Article Payment Process
If I choose to publish open access, how do payments work?
If you are a UC corresponding author and your article was accepted during this period, you will be notified and given instructions for how to publish open access with the discount in ACS’ Journal Publish Agreement system.
What if I don't want to publish open access? Can I still publish with ACS?
Yes. While the UC Academic Senate strongly recommends choosing the open access option, where and how you publish is your decision. The agreement with ACS does not mandate open access publishing, nor does it dictate your journal selection. Rather, it makes the open access publishing option for ACS journals more affordable. As with UC’s other open access agreements, you can opt out.
Resources
What if I have questions or need help?
More information is available via:
Or from your campus library:
Yes, if you are (1) a UC affiliate (faculty, lecturer, staff, student) at one of UC’s campuses or the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, (2) you are the article’s corresponding author, and (3) you choose to publish your article open access in an ACS journal.
If you want to publish your article open access, UC has negotiated a deal that will make it more cost effective for you to do so. If you want to publish in an ACS journal but do not want to publish open access, you can still publish your article as paywalled (pay-to-read or subscription only) content.
The agreement also continues to provide reading access to ACS journals for all UC-affiliated faculty, lecturers, staff, students and clinicians.
Only corresponding authors are covered by the publishing aspects of this agreement.
Who is considered a corresponding author?
ACS considers the corresponding author to be the person listed as the contact person 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?
All articles in American Chemical Society journals are covered by this agreement.
The agreement will apply to articles accepted from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025,
Which American Chemical Society journals are included in this agreement?
All ACS journals are included in this agreement.
Article Payment Process
If I choose to publish open access, how do payments work?
If you are a UC corresponding author and your article was accepted during this period, you will be notified and given instructions for how to publish open access with the discount in ACS’ Journal Publish Agreement system.
What if I don't want to publish open access? Can I still publish with ACS?
Yes. While the UC Academic Senate strongly recommends choosing the open access option, where and how you publish is your decision. The agreement with ACS does not mandate open access publishing, nor does it dictate your journal selection. Rather, it makes the open access publishing option for ACS journals more affordable. As with UC’s other open access agreements, you can opt out.
Resources
What if I have questions or need help?
More information is available via:
Or from your campus library:
All articles in American Chemical Society journals are covered by this agreement.
The agreement will apply to articles accepted from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025,
Which American Chemical Society journals are included in this agreement?
All ACS journals are included in this agreement.
Article Payment Process
If I choose to publish open access, how do payments work?
If you are a UC corresponding author and your article was accepted during this period, you will be notified and given instructions for how to publish open access with the discount in ACS’ Journal Publish Agreement system.
What if I don't want to publish open access? Can I still publish with ACS?
Yes. While the UC Academic Senate strongly recommends choosing the open access option, where and how you publish is your decision. The agreement with ACS does not mandate open access publishing, nor does it dictate your journal selection. Rather, it makes the open access publishing option for ACS journals more affordable. As with UC’s other open access agreements, you can opt out.
Resources
What if I have questions or need help?
More information is available via:
Or from your campus library:
If you are a UC corresponding author and your article was accepted during this period, you will be notified and given instructions for how to publish open access with the discount in ACS’ Journal Publish Agreement system.
What if I don't want to publish open access? Can I still publish with ACS?
Yes. While the UC Academic Senate strongly recommends choosing the open access option, where and how you publish is your decision. The agreement with ACS does not mandate open access publishing, nor does it dictate your journal selection. Rather, it makes the open access publishing option for ACS journals more affordable. As with UC’s other open access agreements, you can opt out.
Resources
What if I have questions or need help?
More information is available via:
Or from your campus library:
More information is available via:
Or from your campus library:
