Transformative Agreement (TA) is an agreement negotiated between institutions and publishers to enable inclusion of Article Processing Charge (APC) for open access publishing in the journal subscription fee, driving a transition of scholarly journal publishing towards open access. This new business model consists of two main components namely “Read” and “Publish”. “Read” refers to the subscription expenditure spent for accessing journal articles published behind a paywall, and “Publish” refers to the costs of open access publishing of articles produced by scholars and researchers affiliated to the institution.
Source: Efficiency and Standards for Article Charges, ESAC (https://esac-initiative.org/about/transformative-agreements/)
Great News to HKU Authors!
We have signed three more Transformative Agreements with new partners, which will be effective from 1 January 2023. New partners include IOP Publishing, Portland Press, and Wiley.
Please scroll down for details.
Benefits
As a researcher, you will benefit from the transformative agreement between the Libraries and various publishers:
Our Agreement Partners
The University Libraries has signed transformative agreements with the Cambridge University Press and Karger, providing HKU-affiliated authors full Article Processing Charge waivers for publishing articles in eligible open access and hybrid journals. Further details of the agreement terms are listed in the below section.
The Libraries will continue to negotiate with more potential partners and explore the opportunities in getting the best deal for open access publishing at HKU. Currently a number of publishers are offering APC discounts to HKU authors. The list of publishers and details of their offers can be found here.
Cambridge University Press - Read and Publish Agreement
| Item | Description |
| Eligibility | The corresponding author of the submitted article is affiliated with HKU at the point of acceptance, including staff and students. The manuscripts have to be accepted within the agreement period. |
| Agreement period | 1st January 2022 - 31st December 2023 |
| Type of publication | Only applies to 5 types of article - “research article”, “review article”, “Rapid communications”, “brief report”, and “case report”. Detailed descriptions can be referred to here. |
| Journal coverage | Over 370+ OA and hybrid journals are covered in the Read & Publish agreement. Download a list of eligible CUP journal titles via this link. |
| Quota limit | No quota limit for individual author as long as your articles are accepted within the agreement period. |
More details on the CUP Read and Publish Agreement with JULAC, Hong Kong can be found here.
Procedures
Source: The Cambridge University Press (https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/open-access-policies/read-and-publish-agreements)
Step 1
Manuscript Submission and Peer Review
Go to the journal homepage page on Cambridge Core and click on “Submit your article”. Then, complete a submission form on the journal’s Online Peer Review System (OPRS). After submission, your manuscript will go through the editorial and peer review process.
Note: Please use your HKU affiliation, address, and email for manuscript submission in order to obtain the APC waiver.
Step 2
Manuscript Acceptance and Publication Decision
Once your manuscript has been accepted, follow the instructions in the acceptance email to complete an Author Publishing Agreement. On the agreement form, select your choice of Creative Commons (CC) license for your article to be published.
Step 3
APC Transaction Process
An email will be sent to you in 48 hours from Rightslink®, the third party system used by CUP to transact APCs. Follow the instructions on the email to register a Rightslink account if you do not have one. Login to the Rightslink system, choose “Seek funding from the University of Hong Kong” to apply for the full APC waiver and submit your request for approval*.
Note: Quota is unlimited. Once your eligibility has been verified by the system, you will be able to obtain the approval to proceed.
Step 4
Publication in Open Access
You will be notified once your funding request has been approved. Your work will undergo the publication process and be available online in open access.
You can also refer to the author guides by the Cambridge University Press here for more information on the workflow of open access publishing.
IOP Publishing - Read & Publish Agreement
| Item | Description |
| Eligibility |
"Corresponding Author" affiliated with the University of Hong Kong at the point of acceptance Notes: The “Corresponding Author” is the author who submits a manuscript to and communicates with the journal. |
| Agreement period | 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025 |
| Type of publication |
Eligible article types include: |
| Journal coverage |
IOP hybrid & gold open access journals Details of the journal titles can be found at: https://publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org/questions/eligible-journals-transformative-agreements/ (Lists A, B, C & D), ECS Advances and ECS Sensors Plus |
| Quota limit | Unlimited free APC credits |
More details on IOP Publishing's Transformative Agreements can be found here.
1.
Submit manuscript to an eligible IOP Publishing journal via ScholarOne (IOP Publishing journals' submission system).
2.
At step 4 (Author Information), enter author information. Make sure the affiliation is clearly stated on the submission form. Use the autofill to provide institution name.
There will be only one corresponding author, who submits the manuscript and communicates with the journal during the process.
3.
Progress to the Step 6 (Policies & Information).
Decide open access choice.
Only in the event that the article is found to be ineligible, the selection here will apply. If you do not wish to pay an APC to publish open access, select ‘No’.
4.
No matter which choice is made in the above step, IOP will always check whether the article is eligible under an institutional agreement. If so, there will be a separate notification email with a subject line ‘Open access options for your article: article ID’.
5.
During the peer review process, or after article is accepted, sign the open access copyright form to publish under a CC-BY licence.
Request for APC waiver will be handled.
Note:
Most IOP Publishing journals uses ScholarOne.
A small number of the journals do not use ScholarOne. For those, the submission process will differ but eligible articles will still be identified and authors will receive relevant notification e-mails.
View a quick guide on the procedure by IOP Publishing here:
Karger - Publish and Access Agreement
| Item | Description |
| Eligibility | Corresponding authors affiliated with HKU at the point of acceptance are eligible for full coverage of APC and Author's ChoiceTM publication fee and all additional publication costs for articles published in full Open Access and hybrid journals (subscription journals with an Open Access option). |
| Agreement period | 1st January 2021 - 31st December 2023 |
| Type of publication | Eligible article types include: “original research articles”, “review articles”, “proceedings”, “letters”, and “editorials”, etc. |
| Journal coverage | Full OA and hybrid journals covering a wide range of biomedical subject areas are included in the Open Access (or Publish & Access) agreement. Details of the eligible journal titles can be found on this page. |
| Quota limit | Unlimited free APC credits as long as your articles are accepted within the agreement period. |
More details on the Karger Publish and Access Agreements can be found here.
Procedures
Step 1
Go to the journal homepage page and click on “Submit Manuscript”.
Step 2
Login to the Karger manuscript manager system. If you do not have an account, create a new one.
Note: Please use your HKU affiliation, address, and email for account registration in order to obtain the APC waiver.
Step 3
When you are filling out the submission form, under the section “Open Access Agreements”, declare your eligibility to apply for APC waiver by selecting the “Eligible” option under “Eligibility Declaration”. Then, input “University of Hong Kong” in the text box for indicating the institution’s name.
Step 4
You have already submitted your application for the APC waiver during the manuscript submission process. The corresponding author’s name and email address will be used by Karger to determine eligibility for APC waiver.
Step 5
Your manuscript will go through a rigorous peer review and the remaining acceptance and publication process.
More information on “submit and publish open access” at Karger can also be found on this page.
| Item | Description |
| Eligibility | Corresponding Author affiliated with the University of Hong Kong at the point of acceptance |
| Agreement period | 1 January - 31 December 2023 |
| Type of publication | Unlimited |
| Journal coverage | All 7 Portland Press journals. Details of the journal titles can be found at: https://portlandpress.com/pages/submit_your_work |
| Quota limit | Unlimited free APC credits |
More details on Portland Press's Read & Publish Agreement can be found here.
1.
Submit manuscript to a Portland Press journal.
Validate affiliation by clicking on "Validate Institution". In the pop-up window, search for The University of Hong Kong and save.
2.
Progress to the Detailed Information tab of the submission form. The system will check the affiliation against the list of institutional agreements in RightsLink.
A message will be shown for institution holding an active Read & Publish agreement with Portland Press.
3.
After article is accepted, request for APC waiver will be handled.
Download a quick guide on the procedure by Portland Press here:
| Item | Description |
| Eligibility | Responsible Corresponding Author affiliated with the University of Hong Kong at the point of acceptance |
| Agreement period | 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025 – Accepted for publication in a Wiley hybrid open access journal from 1 January 2023 – Submitted to a Wiley fully open access or Hindawi journal from 1 January 2023 |
| Type of publication |
Limited to article types which are primary research and review articles, including but not limited to: |
| Journal coverage | Selected Wiley and Hindawi fully and hybrid open access journals Details of the eligible journal titles can be found at: – Wiley hybrid open access journal: https://authorservices.wiley.com/asset/Wiley-Journal-APCs-OnlineOpen.xlsx – Wiley fully open access or Hindawi journals: https://authorservices.wiley.com/asset/Wiley-Journal-APCs-Open-Access.xlsx |
| Quota limit | Limited free APC credits. First come first served. |
More details on Wiley’s transformational agreements can be found here.
The application procedures for I. Wiley hybrid open access journals, II. Wiley fully open access journals or III. Hindawi journals are different. Please scroll down for details.
1.
After article accepted by a Wiley hybrid open access journal, register or log in to Wiley Author Services at www.wileyauthors.com.
Click on the ‘Manage article’ button.
2.
Confirm author role.
Only one author can be selected as the Responsible Corresponding Author, who is the only person responsible for signing the license. His/her affiliation is used to determine eligibility for APC coverage.
3.
Add/edit any new/existing funder(s).
4.
Confirm/enter institutional affiliation.
When there is an exact match for eligible institutional affiliation, an eligibility message will show on the main homepage of Author Services, as well.
If affiliations with multiple institutions were entered, select which institution is most appropriate to cover the open access fees.
A purple ‘Open Access’ box will also be shown to alert the author that he/she has triggered the eligibility criteria for funding based on their affiliation.
5.
Select Copyright Ownership.
6.
Confirm open access by clicking "Yes, make my article open access".
7.
Select a Creative Commons license. Sign and submit the license.
After signing and submitting license for the article, a funding request will be submitted to the institution for review and approval.
8.
If the request is approved, there will be a confirmation email.
If the request is denied, there will be an email asking the author to pay for open access. If open access is not paid for, the article will be published as a subscription article.
Download a quick guide on the procedure by Wiley here:
https://authorservices.wiley.com/asset/Make-your-article-open-access-with-OnlineOpen.pdf
1.
Submit manuscript to the Wiley fully open access journal via ScholarOne or ReX. Indicate affiliation with Wiley Open Access Account in payment question.
1A.
via ScholarOne
Indicate affiliation to the payment question during manuscript submission.
Click Account Code Tool to look for the code for The University of Hong Kong. Enter the code.
1B.
Via ReX
Select affiliation.
2.
Before manuscript acceptance, if the APC request is approved, there will be a notification email.
3.
When the article is accepted, sign the license agreement. No payment steps are necessary.
Download a quick guide on the procedure by Wiley here:
https://authorservices.wiley.com/asset/Publishing-Your-Article-In-a-Fully-Open-Access-Journal.pdf
1.
Select affiliation during journal submission.
2.
APC request will be handled before manuscript acceptance.
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