What is an Open Access Agreement?

An open access agreement is a publishing arrangement between a journal and an institution, library, or sometimes an individual author. Under this agreement, the institution or author pays an annual membership fee that covers the cost of publishing articles. This means that researchers affiliated with the participating institution can publish their work without paying individual article processing charges, while ensuring that their articles are freely available to all readers worldwide.

Open access agreements are designed to support researchers by removing financial barriers to publication and to encourage the wide dissemination of academic knowledge. They also help institutions manage their research budgets more effectively by offering a single payment that covers multiple publications.