The amount that publishers charge for gold open access varies considerably, from nothing to nearly £10,000, and some publishers offer membership or institutional discounts on the price list Article Processing Charge (APC). The average APC the Open Access Service paid in 2021 was £1,646 (including VAT), although individual APCs range from as much as £9,952 to as little as £1,150.
Please note that if you are funded British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Wellcome Trust or UKRI, you do not need to apply for publishing costs in your grant application. A block grant is provided to the University and managed by the Open Access Team. In addition, the University has signed up to a number of Read & Publish agreements, which cover the cost of open access publishing in participating journals with a University of Cambridge corresponding author.
If you are a Cambridge researcher publishing an article resulting from research funded any of the above funders, then the Open Access Service can facilitate payment on your behalf if your article meets the requirements of both your funder and the journal policy. Simply submit upload your accepted manuscript. If you are preparing a research grant for another funder and need more detailed information about how much to allow for article processing charges, then please email us.