OA policy

(Last updated August 2018)

Introduction

Bioscientifica supports open access to research articles through both 'gold' and 'green' routes. We publish both fully open-access publications and subscription journals which offer open-access options ('hybrid' journals). Table 1 summarises the open-access options applying to each of our publications.

Table 1: Bioscientifica's publications and their open-access options

'Green' open access

'Green' open access is the method of making articles published in subscription journals free-to-read after an embargo period (rather than immediately upon publication which is the 'gold' route). There is no cost to authors for 'green' open access.

Bioscientifica automatically makes all subscription content freely available online 12 months after publication. The version made free is the final published version ('version of record') following typesetting, copy-editing and proofing, and containing reference linking, links to supplementary data and information on any subsequent changes to the scholarly record (including errata and retractions).

In addition, authors are welcome to deposit their own versions of their accepted papers (not the publisher's final published version) in repositories of their choice, provided articles are released no sooner than 12 months after online publication. The following disclaimer must be included when depositing articles:

“Disclaimer: this is not the definitive version of record of this article. This manuscript has been accepted for publication in [insert name of journal], but the version presented here has not yet been copy-edited, formatted or proofed. Consequently, Bioscientifica accepts no responsibility for any errors or omissions it may contain. The definitive version is now freely available at [insert DOI link] [insert year of publication].”

If funders require their funded research to be made freely available sooner than 12 months after online publication, authors should opt for 'gold' open access (see below).

'Gold' open access

'Gold' open access is the method by which authors (or their funders or institutions) pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC) upon acceptance in order to have their article made freely available online immediately upon publication.

A 'gold' open-access option is available for each of our publications. The version made free is the final published version ('version of record') following typesetting, copy-editing and proofing, and containing reference linking, links to supplementary data and information on any subsequent changes to the scholarly record (including errata and retractions). Bioscientifica automatically deposits final published versions of all 'gold' open access articles into PubMed Central.

Rather than transferring copyright to the journal owner(s) (as would be the case for subscription content), authors retain copyright of their articles for 'gold' open access and a range of user licences are available for authors to choose from (Table 2, below). Some funders, including Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK, require or prefer the use of specific licences.

Wellcome funded articles must be published under a CC-BY licence and this can be specified during the article submission process. If you do not publish using the CC-BY licence you will not comply with Wellcome’s Open Access policy and they will not cover the cost of the APC.

Authors wishing to pay for 'gold' open access in one of our hybrid journals must choose this option when submitting their article. Please note that the peer-review process is managed by the Editorial Board which has complete editorial independence from any financial workflows. Therefore any editorial decision on a manuscript will not be affected by whether or not authors choose to pay to publish open access.

Author charges for 'gold' open access

The Article Publication Charges (APCs) payable by authors (or their funders or institutions) upon acceptance for 'gold' open access are summarised in Table 2, along with any discounts and the user licences available. Prices are subject to UK Value-Added Tax (VAT, currently 20%) for authors resident in any European Union country.

Table 2: Bioscientifica's licence options and pricing for 'gold' open access

†If author(s) are eligible for discounted publishing fees or have a discount code these cannot be used cumulatively; only one deduction will be applied per manuscript.

*Terms and Conditions

• Bioscientifica will sponsor the Article Publishing Charge during the first few years of launch, after which it will be competitively priced.
• We reserve the right to withdraw this offer at any time.

**Terms and Conditions

• The first, last or corresponding author must have been a member of BSE between 1 April 2017 and 31 December 2017.
• The offer is available for papers submitted between 1 January and the 30 September 2018.
• All submissions are subject to peer review and the journal’s usual acceptance criteria.

***Terms and Conditions for member discounts

• Discount is based on membership of corresponding author to an Owning or Endorsing Society. For full details please contact the relevant journal editorial office.
• A valid membership number must be disclosed during submission, and will be confirmed by the editorial office. On acceptance members will be sent a discount code to be used at the payment stage.
• All submissions are subject to peer review and the usual acceptance criteria.
• The offer applies to individual members and is not open to corporate members.

Bioscientifica operates a discount and waiver programme† for authors in developing countries (as defined by HINARI). Authors must indicate upon first submission if they wish to apply for an APC discount or waiver according to the following criteria:

• Authors from group A countries receive a full APC waiver.
• Authors from group B countries receive a 50% discount on the full APC.

Any decision to apply an APC discount or waiver is made by journal staff and is entirely independent of the peer-review process which is managed by the Editorial Board with complete editorial independence.

†If author(s) are eligible for discounted publishing fees or have a discount code these cannot be used cumulatively; only one deduction will be applied per manuscript.

Refund policy

The author(s) may withdraw their article at any time prior to acceptance without incurring an Article Publication Charge (APC) or administration fee.

Post-acceptance article withdrawal is not permitted except in very rare circumstances and will be at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief and the Publisher, and will be done in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the publication.

'Gold' open access licences

Bioscientifica offers authors a range of licences for 'gold' open access (please check if your funding body has any particular licence requirements). The features of the different licences are summarised below in Table 3. For further information please refer to the Creative Commons website.

Please note that all Open Access articles which have been supported by the pharmaceutical industry must be published under the CC BY-NC-ND licence.

Table 3: Terms of the user licences offered by Bioscientifica

*Authors publishing under the CC BY-NC-ND licence grant the society owner(s) and/or the publisher commercial rights. Please see publication web pages for details.

Funder requirements

Bioscientifica supports authors by enabling compliance with all funder mandates or preferences for 'gold' or 'green' open access. Please check whether your funder has any requirements for depositing articles in repositories or for the licence terms which articles are published under. Links to funders' policies are listed below, and you may also wish to consult the SHERPA/JULIET website. Compliance with funder policies will not be monitored by Bioscientifica.

Bioscientifica automatically deposits final published versions of all 'gold' open access articles into PubMed Central.

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (USA)
• Arthritis Research UK
• Australian Research Council
• Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Breakthrough Breast Cancer
• Breast Cancer Campaign
• British Heart Foundation
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Cancer Research UK
• Charity Open Access Fund (COAF)
• Chief Scientist Office (UK)
• Department of Health (UK)
• Diabetes UK
• Dunhill Medical Trust
• European Commission
• European Research Council
• Ford Foundation
• Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal)
• Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research
• Leverhulme Trust
• Marie Curie Cancer Care
• Ministry of Science & Technology(India; Departments of Biotechnology & Science and Technology)
• National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia)
• National Institute for Health Research (UK)
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)*(USA)
• National Research Foundation (South Africa)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
• Research Councils UK (including Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council & Medical Research Council)
• Robert Koch Institut
• Telethon
• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Wellcome Trust
• World Bank
• World Health Organization
• Worldwide Cancer Research (formerly Association for International Cancer Research)

*To enable authors to comply with the NIH Public Access Policy, Bioscientifica automatically deposits final accepted versions of non-'gold' open access NIH-funded research articles in PubMed Central on behalf of authors upon acceptance, for release 12 months after online publication. All 'gold' open access articles are deposited immediately upon publication.

Bioscientifica confirm that we can meet the Wellcome Trust requirements.

Contact

If you have any questions regarding Bioscientifica's publications or open access policy please do get in touch via publishing@bioscientifica.com.

We do not hold information on how different institutions are managing their block grants. If you have any queries about how your institution will be supporting APC payments please ask your librarian.

Please contact your funder or institution if you have any queries about their requirements for 'green' or 'gold' open access, user licences or the deposit of articles in repositories.