Library, Organisation, Research
Publisher LWW: cap for open access articles almost reached – avoid extra charges
The yearly cap for open access articles published at Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) will likely be reached mid-August. Researchers publishing after the cap has been reached will be invoiced by the publisher for open access fees. Make sure to avoid these charges.
What is an open access publishing cap?
Several agreements between the Dutch Universities (UNL) and academic publishers have set an annual cap: a maximum number of articles that can be published per year in open access at no cost for the authors. Starting 1 January 2026, a new cap will take effect. Articles accepted for publication in 2026 can once again be published open access without additional costs at LWW and other publishers with similar agreements.
How do I prevent extra charges?
Until the cap has been reached, accepted articles are covered by the agreement and authors will not be charged fees for open access. Note, however, that articles are counted towards the cap from the moment of acceptance by the publisher. For articles that have been submitted before the cap is met, but get accepted afterwards, the publisher will charge individual authors with open access costs.
If your article is accepted for publication after the moment the cap is reached, you can still choose to publish your article in open access. You could try to pay the publication fees through, for instance, your research grant or via your institute. The University and LUMC do not have a central budget to cover these publication fees.
Alternatively, you could use one of the other routes to open access for your article. Please check the University Library’s webpages on Open Access for all available options.
Notification service
Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, Oxford University Press, ACS, Cambridge University Press and other publishers have set a cap, like LWW. Would you like to be informed about the annual maximums of the agreements? Consider registering for our free notification service to receive updates on the agreements and their impending caps.
Questions?
For any questions about publishing in open access, please don’t hesitate to contact the University Library’s Open Access Team, via openaccess@library.leidenuniv.nl.