Support for Open Access publishing at Concordia

Spectrum: Concordia's Research Repository

Spectrum is a web-based repository where Concordia faculty, research and students can upload their published work in order to make it more widely available over the internet. Authors may deposit copies of peer-reviewed research articles, conference papers, book chapters, images, PowerPoint presentations, or other materials that reflect research activity.

Depositing an article in Spectrum involves uploading the full text of the article, then adding basic citation information - a process that can take as little as 10 minutes. Each publication stored in Spectrum will have its own lasting web address. Spectrum is regularly crawled by Google and Google Scholar, so work will be findable via these search engines.

Authors depositing their work in Spectrum sign a license giving Concordia the non-exclusive right to make the submission accessible worldwide. Concordia University does not claim copyright over anything deposited in Spectrum. Research materials deposited in institutional repositories retain their original copyright: depending on the agreement with the original publisher, either the author or the publisher will retain the rights to an article. Authors can make use of the SHERPA/RoMEO website to determine whether they are permitted to deposit an article published in a particular journal.

More information:

• About the Spectrum repository and how to deposit research

Finding OA journals in which to publish

You can use the resources below to identify Open Access journals in your subject area. Be sure to keep in mind the guidelines on how to recognize trusted Open Access publishers when evaluating the journals you find.

• CoFactor Journal Selector Tool: Allows you to filter your choice by subject, peer review type, speed of revision and publication, impact factor, etc.
• Directory of Open Access Journals: Browse the different subject areas by navigating the subject section on the side bar. Find out how.
• Elsevier Journal Finder: helps you choose a journal from all journals Elsevier publishes in science, medicine and technology, in which to publish your research, based on manuscript title and abstract. Open access filters are available.
• Enago Open Access Journal Finder: Enter your manuscript abstract to help you shortlist trusted OA journals that are the most compatible with your research.
• IEEE Publication Recommender: helps you choose a journal from electrical engineering, computing, biotechnology, telecommunications, power and energy and other technologies, in which to publish your research, based on keywords, key phrases, manuscript title or abstract. Open access filters are available.
• JANE: Journal/Author Name Estimator: a freely available tool to help choose a biomedical journal to publish in, based on your title and abstract. It includes all active journals from PubMed and tags journals indexed in MEDLINE and open access journals approved by the DOAJ.
• Open Journal Matcher: enter an abstract and the tool will suggest suitable Open Access journals to publish in.
• Scopus: Click on the "Sources" link at the top of this is a multidisciplinary database. Then select "Browse sources", and select your subject area. Remember to select the "Display only Open Access journals" check box.
• Springer Journal Suggester: helps you choose a journal from all Springer and Biomed Central journals that publish in science, medicine, technology and some social sciences, in which to publish your research, based on manuscript title and abstract. Open access filters are available.
• Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory: This directory of periodicals allows you to limit your search to Open Access journals by subject. Find out how.
• Wiley Journal Finder: helps you choose a journal from all Wiley journals in social sciences, humanities, science, medicine, technology art and law, in which to publish your research, based on manuscript title and abstract. Open access filters are available.

 

Article-Processing Charges

Have you been asked to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC)?

Typically used to support open access, an APC is a charge to authors of scholarly articles during the publication process. Authors support the journal's production costs instead of the subscription fees paid by libraries and readers. Ultimately, an APC allows an article to be available without access restrictions.

Consider the cost to benefit ratio when evaluating whether to pay APCs charged by specific journals. While costs vary, Concordia's institutional memberships seek to reduce expenses for Concordia authors across disciplines. Benefits may include increasing visibility of your research, some top-ranking journals charge APCs, retaining your copyright, and compliance with the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy. Avoid predatory journals. Learn more by consulting the Library's predatory publishing section of our Copyright Guide.

Remember that submitting an eligible version of your article to Spectrum may offer an open-access alternative to APCs as long as you meet the journal's self-archiving policy or have otherwise negotiated your publishing contract. See Sherpa Romeo for your journal's open access policies.

Institutional memberships and discounts for Concordia authors

Biochemical Society

Concordia University Library approved a Read & Publish agreement with Biochemical Society, effective January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025 (This is a non-consortial agreement). Concordia University-affiliated authors can publish in these journals with no APCs: Biochemical Journal, Clinical Science, Biochemical Society Transactions, Essays in Biochemistry, Emerging Topics in Life Sciences, and Bioscience Reports. .

BioMed (part of Springer Nature)

Concordia University Library purchased an institutional membership to BioMed. Concordia authors publishing in BioMed and SpringerOpen journals are eligible for a 15% discount on the article-processing charge (APC). Review the submission guidelines for submitting on- and off-campus.

American Chemical Society (ACS)

Institutional membership with ASC is part of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network's CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors are eligible to receive a 250 USD discount on the APC for all ASC hybrid journals upon manuscript acceptance. Consult the ACS's How to Publish Open Access page.

Cambridge University Press

Institutional membership with Cambridge is part of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network's CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors are eligible to publish an unlimited number of their articles as open access in all Cambridge hybrid and gold journals without APC fees for the duration of the (2022-2024) agreement. Use your Concordia email address for eligibility and consult Cambridge's step-by-step guide.

Canadian Science Publishing

An institutional membership with Canadian Science Publishing is part of Canadian Research Knowledge Network's CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors are eligible to receive a 25% discount on the article processing charge (APC) for all CSP Hybrid journals. Authors must indicate their institutional affiliation.

Company of Biologists

A three-year institutional agreement (2024-2026) with the Company of Biologists offers Concordia authors an uncapped number of APC waivers in 3 hybrid journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology) and 2 fully OA journals (Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open). Details are available on the Company of Biologist’s library hub.

Elsevier ScienceDirect

An institutional membership with Elsevier ScienceDirect is part of the CRKN Open Access Publishing. Corresponding Concordia authors receive a 20% APC discount for gold OA titles and APC waivers for the 1,800 hybrid journals under the renewed agreement.

Frontiers

Concordia University Library has an institutional membership with Frontiers, one of the most cited research publishers with over 100 journals. Concordia authors can publish in any Frontiers journal with a 15% discount on APCs. The author must use their Concordia University email address when submitting their article. Upon final acceptance of the article, the Concordia-affiliated author will receive the APC discount.

IEEE

Concordia University Library has an institutional membership with IEEE, the world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology. Concordia-affiliated researchers are eligible for a 15% discount on APCs. The only journal not eligible for an additional affiliation discount is the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (JSTARS). Concordia-affiliated authors must go through the authors' workflow as described in the RightsLink Quick Reference Guide: Completing Author Charges Orders. The "Discounts applied" label should signal that the 15% discount has been applied.

Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing

An institutional membership with IOP is part of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network's CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors are eligible to publish in a range of journals without APC costs, though some publishing costs may still apply. Concordia authors must indicate their institutional affiliation upon manuscript submission to benefit. Either in the peer-review process or upon acceptance, authors will also be asked to agree to a Creative Commons CC BY licence. Find out about eligible journals and how to take advantage of the agreement.

MPDI

Concordia University Library has an institutional membership with MPDI. As part of MPDI's Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), Concordia authors are eligible for a 10% discount on APCs, which will be confirmed upon manuscript submission. Please note that this IOAP discount cannot be used in conjunction with other discounts available in MDPI journals. Concordia authors must use their institutional email to benefit. All MPDI articles are published under a Creative Commons CC BY licence. For more information, see MDPI's APC Information FAQ.

Oxford University Press

An institutional membership with Canadian Science Publishing is part of CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors are eligible to receive APC waivers for eligible hybrid journals and a 10% APC discount on gold OA Oxford journal titles. Details are available on the CRKN website.

PLOS Community Action Publishing (CAP)

An institutional membership with CAP is part of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network's CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors are eligible to publish an unlimited number of articles without APC costs in PLOS Biology and PLOS Medicine under the Community Action Publishing (CAP) model. Concordia authors must indicate their institutional affiliation upon manuscript submission to benefit.

Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

An institutional membership with the Royal Society of Chemistry is part of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network's CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors are eligible for a 15% discount on the APC for all RSC hybrid journals. The APC discount is applied upon acceptance of the manuscript. Concordia authors must indicate their institutional affiliation upon manuscript submission to benefit.

SAGE

An institutional membership with Sage is part of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network's CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors may publish their articles as open access in over 900 SAGE Choice journals (see list of journals excluded from SAGE Choice). Authors may also use a 40% APC discount to publish in SAGE's gold open access journals (see list of participating gold journals). When corresponding authors identify themselves as affiliated with a participating CRKN institution (e.g., Concordia), processing the APC waiver for SAGE Choice journals and the discount for gold open access journals is done automatically via the SAGE Open Access Portal (SOAP). SOAP is a dashboard for authors to submit their article, select a copyright licence, assign a bill payer (if applicable), and view article status. The Creative Commons licence CC BY will be applied to open access publications unless the author requests a different licence. Important: where an author is eligible for more than one discount for gold journals, discounts cannot be combined, but the highest discount available to the author will be applied to the APC due.

Taylor & Francis

An institutional membership with Taylor and Francis is part of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network's CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors are eligible for a 25% discount on APCs in Taylor & Francis Open Select journals. The APC will be automatically discounted based on the organization name used by the author when submitting their article.

Wiley

An institutional membership with Wiley is part of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network's CRKN Open Access Publishing. Concordia authors are able to publish their articles open access in all Wiley hybrid journals for the duration of the agreement (2023-2024). Please review the step-by-step guide to open-access publishing for authors.

Securing Authors' Rights

All too often, authors sign away their copyrights to publishers during the author-agreement stage of publication. On the Authors’ Rights page of Copyright at Concordia Guide, you will learn more about publishing contracts, Concordia University’s IP policies and guides, how to keep your rights, and more.