BJHS Themes is a collaborative venture between the British Society for the History of Science and Cambridge University Press aimed at establishing the first fully open access journal for the history of science community.

Three core principles underline our open access commitment:

• All articles will be free to access online by anybody from the date of publication, in final form and in perpetuity, through Cambridge Core.
• All articles will be published under the terms of a Creative Commons licence chosen by the author, making provision for open re-use and distribution.
• No author, regardless of their funding background or institutional affiliation, will face any financial barrier to publication.

These open access principles will be adopted for BJHS Themes without the need to forego any of the critical features the history of science community might expect from a leading scholarly journal:

• A traditional, rigorous, pre-publication peer-review process.
• International promotion through the auspices of a major university press.
• Technically innovative and accessible online publication through an established platform.
• Digital preservation and secure archiving of all published material.
• A professional, efficient production service in print and online.

We invite all scholars of the history of science to engage with this exciting new project, whether by reading its articles or by putting together a volume proposal for the annual competition.

Open Access Funding

Gold Open Access publication in this journal is paid for through a series of different funding routes designed to ensure that every author, irrespective of their circumstances, can publish in the journal and enjoy the benefits of Gold OA. The costs of publishing an article Gold OA are typically covered in one of the following ways:

• If the corresponding author of a research article is affiliated with an institution with which Cambridge University Press has an open access publishing agreement, in the majority of cases this will cover the full costs of publication (specific terms and conditions vary) and Cambridge will liaise directly with the institution to determine eligibility and secure this funding. Authors can use our eligibility checker to see if their institution has an active agreement.
• The Cambridge Open Equity Initiative (COEI) funds Gold OA publishing for authors from over 100 low- and middle-income countries, covering over 5,000 institutions. Eligibility is automatically established during the publication process and no Gold OA fees will be charged if the corresponding author of a research article is based in one of these countries.
• Authors from low- and middle-income countries who are not covered by an institutional open access agreement or the Cambridge Open Equity Initiative may be eligible for support under the Research4Life scheme. Corresponding authors of research articles based in 'Group A’ countries will automatically have Article Processing Charge (APC) costs waived entirely, and authors based in ‘Group B’ countries will automatically receive a 50% discount on an article’s APC.
• If the research behind the article was funded by a grant or arrangement with a funding body that supports the payment of APCs, authors are asked to pay an APC out of those funds.

For any corresponding author of a research article who does not have coverage through an open access agreement, an equity initiative, or outside funding to pay an APC, the costs of publication will be covered by a support fund established to finance the publication of any article accepted by the editors. This fund was established by the British Society for the History of Science in cooperation with Cambridge University Press, and was made possible in part by the Wheeler bequest, a generous gift to the Society that came with the stipulation that the sum should go towards the building of a library. In these days of electronic media, we see BJHS Themes as an excellent, forward-looking and sensible way to fulfil this wish. We are committed to ensuring that no author is prevented from publishing in an open access environment by any financial barriers; all are encouraged to contribute.

When a manuscript is accepted for publication in this journal, authors will be asked to provide details about their funding, and to confirm which of the routes above is most appropriate for them. Prospective authors should submit with full confidence, knowing that no author will face a financial barrier to publication in this journal.

Please note that the decision whether to accept a paper for publication will rest solely with the Editor, and without reference to the funding situation of the authors. The Editor, editorial board members, and reviewers will have no involvement with the billing of APCs and cannot grant discretionary waivers.

Please check the fees and pricing page for details of this journal’s charges, and our central APC page for further information such as APC refund policies.

Article type waivers

No open access publishing fees will be charged for Epilogues and Commentaries.

Any questions concerning BJHS Themes may be directed as appropriate to:

Rohan Deb Roy, Editor, BJHS Themes, r.debroy@reading.ac.uk

Georgia Priestley, Publisher, Cambridge University Press, georgia.priestley@cambridge.org