In 2022, 50% of our total research articles were published open access. We continue to work towards the majority of research published in our journals being open access by 2025.
There are many advantages for the author and their research when publishing open access; more citations, more downloads, and increased reach. We recognise that not all authors have the same opportunities to realise these advantages due to a lack of funding for their work.
The Cambridge Open Equity Initiative is a new pilot designed to support authors in low- and middle-income countries who wish to publish their research open access in our journals but do not have access to funding.
What is the Cambridge Open Equity Initiative?
The Initiative is our new pilot to fully fund open access (OA) publishing where there is a cost barrier for authors.
Starting with authors based in low- and middle-income countries, our pilot approach is delivered through collective funding, bringing together financial support from Cambridge and our institutional partners.
Information for eligible authors
No application is required and authors are automatically recognised as eligible for open access publishing once their paper has been accepted. Eligibility is determined by the Corresponding authors affiliation.
Authors are able to submit their paper to all of our gold and hybrid journals at no direct cost to them or their institution. All original research, including research articles, review articles, rapid communications, brief reports, and case reports are eligible.
Over 5,000 institutions across more than 100 countries will benefit from the support offered. The full list of eligible countries is available here. Authors from these countries, including independent scholars and those affiliated with an organisation or institution not already listed in our eligibility checker tool, can also receive a waiver under the initiative using our waiver request form here.
Information for contributing institutions
Our institutional partners are invited to contribute to the Initiative and can choose to do this as a part of their existing or upcoming transformative agreement.
The pilot is open to authors from July 1st 2023 until December 31st 2024 and we are committed to funding open access research publishing for all eligible authors during this period. Institutions contributing to the Initiative will receive an annual report demonstrating the impact their support has had.