Elsevier & ACS Open Access Transformative Agreements with the California State University (CSU) system
Open Access without the cost burden to faculty
In 2020, the CSU system entered into a two-year pilot agreement with major academic publisher Elsevier to provide fee waivers on open access article processing charges (APCs). The pilot was successful, providing many faculty across the CSU system with the opportunity to publish in open access without the fees and has since been extended through 2024.
Recently, another agreement (running through 2025) with the American Chemical Society (ACS) and a consortium of California universities – including the UC and CSU systems — has been finalized.
In both agreements, researchers and scholars at CSUN who are corresponding authors can have the open access APC fees waived for their publications.
The direct and indirect benefits of participating
What’s important about these two agreements is that one’s research can find a greater audience than ever before, even if one doesn’t have the funds to support open access readily at hand (OA APCs are often paid for through a researcher’s institution or from grant funding). The benefits of open access are well documented. And certainly, as with the theme of this year’s OA week, the benefits of it are felt worldwide. The divides between the haves and have nots can be narrowed. The information that might help the less fortunate can be made more easily attainable.
But even at the personal level, the effects of OA are well-documented. The open access citation advantage (OACA) provides direct benefit to researchers trying to reach a wider audience. In selected studies from 2001 – 2010, there was shown a 69% – 480% increase in citations compared to articles published in non-OA journals (cf. Wagner (2010) Open access citation advantage: An annotated bibliography) The advantages were shown to change for various disciplines, but the life sciences and physics tended to show the greatest evidence of this advantage.
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While these figures are on the older side, they still reflect the basic truth that availability drives accessibility to research. Gatekeeping user access to research merely turns away potential readers and drives home the point that scarcity as a profit-making economic tool backfires when it comes to information, knowledge, and the wider benefits of a public good.
How it works
Faculty who are primary and/or corresponding authors for articles submitted to participating Elsevier and ACS journals can opt to publish these works with the fees waived. First, check whether the journal is a participating journal. Then, when prompted during the submission process, select the choice for the fee waiver.
You can find more about each publisher’s processes here:
ELSEVIER
Elsevier Publishing Journey videos: How do I complete the Rights and Access form?
Elsevier’s Open Access Sharing policy: “Working towards a common goal” FAQs
Cal State LA has a great step-by-step breakdown of the procedure as well as a useful FAQ section here.
ACS 
UC system participants overview: Although this is meant for UC faculty, but most points are applicable to CSUN faculty members as well.
Contact us
For more information about these programs or the submission and fee waiver approval process, please contact the members of the University Library Open access team. We’re here to support you! We hope you’ll take advantage of this great service.
Andrew Weiss | Digital Services Librarian | andrew.weiss@csun.edu
Chris Bulock | Collection Development Coordinator, Chair CAMS department | chris.bulock@csun.edu
David Morck | Web Programmer | dmorck@csun.edu
Elizabeth Altman | Library Web Services Coordinator | elizabeth.altman@csun.edu
Richard Thai | ScholarWorks Assistant | richard.thai@csun.edu
