Open access publishing can extend the reach and potential impact of your scholarly activity. It is also required by most research funding agencies, including the Tri-Agency.
Visit Sharing Your Research for additional help with sharing your scholarly activity.
Open Access Journals
Publishers sometimes charge authors an article processing charge (APC) to make articles open access. The options below include ways to avoid paying these fees.
No Fee Options
Search the Directory of Open Access Journals to find thousands of carefully vetted peer-reviewed journals that do not charge any fees to authors or readers.
Funding
MacEwan faculty holding full-time appointments that include research and creative activity can apply to the Scholarship Support Grant through the Office of Research Services. This grant covers article processing charges in open access journals listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (up to $2500 CDN).
Discounts and Waivers
The following open access publishing discounts and waivers are available to MacEwan-affiliated corresponding authors. Use an @macewan.ca email when submitting articles to these journals to qualify.
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Cambridge University Press (100% discount)
Includes all research articles, review articles, rapid communications, brief reports, and case reports published in Cambridge University Press journals.
Authors must identify as affiliated with MacEwan University during the submission process to have the waiver applied automatically. For more information, visit Step-by-Step Guide to Publishing Open Access in Cambridge Journals.
Valid until: December 31, 2024
Canada Science Publishing - 5 journals (100% discount)
Includes Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Canadian Journal of Physics, Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, Genome, and Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering.
Authors must identify as affiliated with MacEwan University when submitting to these journals using ScholarOne to receive a waived open access publishing fee.
Valid until: December 31, 2025
Canada Science Publishing (25% discount)
Includes all subscription-based journals offering open access options not listed above. This offer does not include the following fully open access journals: Arctic Science, Drone Systems and Applications, and FACETS.
How to apply: Authors must identify as affiliated with MacEwan University when submitting using ScholarOne to receive a reduced open access publishing fee.
Valid until: December 31, 2025
Oxford - hybrid journals (100% discount)
Includes over 350 subscription-based journals that offer open access options including Core Hybrid and Specialty titles.
Authors must identify as affiliated with MacEwan University when submitting to these journals. Authors will select an affiliation from an autocomplete list populated by Ringgold IDs.
Valid: February 1, 2024 - December 31, 2026
Oxford - open access journals (10% discount)
Includes 155 fully open access journals. A list of included titles will be posted here in early 2024.
Authors must identify as affiliated with MacEwan University when submitting to these journals. Authors will select an affiliation from an autocomplete list populated by Ringgold IDs.
Valid: February 1, 2024 - December 31, 2026
Royal Society of Chemistry (15% discount)
Includes all subscription-based journals offering open access options.
Authors must identify as affiliated with MacEwan University during the submission process to have the discount applied upon acceptance of manuscript.
Valid until: December 31, 2024
Royal Society Journals (100% discount)
Includes all journals except Notes and Records, Philosophical Transactions A, and Proceedings A.
During the submission process, use your @macewan.ca email, state your institution and select the ‘Read & Publish’ option. For more information, visit Read and Publish for Authors.
Valid until: December 31, 2024
Sage Choice Journals (100% discount)
Includes subscription-based journals offering open access options as part of the Sage Choice program. This offer excludes a few journals not participating in Sage Choice.
Authors must identify as affiliated with MacEwan University during the submission process to have this discount applied. SAGE will contact eligible authors and invite them to the SAGE Open Access Portal as soon as their accepted article has been received. For more information visit the SAGE Open Access Portal User Guide.
Valid until: December 31, 2026
Sage Open Access Journals (40% discount)
Includes fully open access journals listed in this excel file of included SAGE journals.
Authors must identify as affiliated with MacEwan University during the submission process to have this discount applied. SAGE will contact eligible authors and invite them to the SAGE Open Access Portal as soon as their accepted article has been received. For more information visit the SAGE Open Access Portal User Guide.
Valid until: December 31, 2026
Taylor & Francis (25% discount)
Includes journals listed in this excel file of Open Select titles.
Authors should select the Open Access Publishing option when submitting an article. When the article processing charge quote is generated, authors should select their affiliated institution from the drop-down menu. The discount will be automatically applied.
Valid until: December 31, 2024
Wiley (100% discount)
Includes all subscription-based journals offering open access options. Fully open access journals are excluded from this offer.
Upon article acceptance, the corresponding author will begin the Author Services process within the Wiley Open Access Account system. A message notifies the author upon login that their accepted article is eligible for open access at no cost. Authors must identify themselves as affiliated with a participating institution in order for their article to be verified. For more information, visit the Author Services and Wiley Open Access Accounts Workflow.
Valid until: December 31, 2024
Visit the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN)'s Read and Publish Agreements page for more information on most of the options listed above.
Open Access Books
Browse publishers listed in the Directory of Open Access Books.
MacEwan faculty and staff interested in publishing an open textbook can do so through MacEwan Open Books.
Open Access Repositories
Subscription-based journals typically allow authors to share draft versions of articles in an institutional or disciplinary repository. To verify publisher permissions, visit Sherpa Romeo or email digitalscholarship@macewan.ca for assistance.
Peer-reviewed and revised drafts of articles (post-prints) by MacEwan members can be deposited in MacEwan’s institutional repository, Research Online at MacEwan (RO@M), by emailing a copy to roam@macewan.ca.
Visit Research Repositories for more information about RO@M and other repository options.
Journal Hosting Service
MacEwan Open Journals is a platform for hosting open access scholarly journals, undergraduate journals, and conference proceedings managed by members of the MacEwan University community. This no-fee hosting service uses Open Journal Systems (OJS) software administered by the Library.
Interested in setting up a journal? Review the Terms of Use for this service and fill out a Request Form.
Publishing Glossary
The following terms are commonly associated with open access publishing.
- Article Processing Charges (APC): the fees sometimes associated with open access publishing in journals. Authors, funders or university libraries pay these fees to journals once an author’s publication has been accepted.
- Embargo period: a period of time that some journals place on an author's right to place their content online in an open access repository.
- Hybrid: a journal publishing model where subscription and open access options are both available.
- Open Access: all content published in this model are free to read. Types of open access include:
- Gold: published content is freely available to read but authors or funders are required to provide some form of payment, often as an APC.
- Diamond/Platinum: journals do not charge any fees to authors or readers.
- Green: a form of open access where subscription-based journals allow authors to share draft versions of articles in an institutional or disciplinary repository, often following an embargo period.
- Repository: a searchable database that is maintained for archiving, collecting, preserving, and sharing copies of research materials. Includes institutional, disciplinary, and data repositories.
- Transformative: this term is used for a journal that offers both subscription and open access options, however, the journal is committed to transforming 100% to an open access publication over time.
Need Help?
Email digitalscholarship@macewan.ca, visit Digital Scholarship Hub to book a consultation, or contact your subject librarian.
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