The USC Libraries have signed transformative agreements with academic publishers that will broaden access to USC scholarship. Under the agreements, the publishers will make newly published articles by USC authors freely available (if the author chooses to publish as open access) to readers under an open access model.
What is a transformative agreement?
A transformative agreement (also called read and publish agreement) is a way for institutions to maintain access to scholarly content available only through subscription, while supporting the transition to open access publishing by their affiliated researchers. Institutions are, in effect, redirecting their expenditures on subscriptions to cover the open access article processing charges (APC).
How do these agreements affect USC researchers?
The article processing charges (APC) are covered for researchers who are the corresponding author (faculty, students and staff) and choose to publish open access in journals under the publishers who have an agreement with USC Libraries. Those publishers are listed below. When submitting articles to the publishers, USC authors are required to use their USC email address to confirm their affiliation.
Which publishers have an agreement with USC Libraries?
The links for each publisher go to the publisher's website and link to either general submission details or are specific to publishing as open access with a Transformative Agreement (or Read & Publish). Most of your questions will be answered on the publisher's website.
- American Chemical Society (ACS) - agreement through 2025 ***
- There will be charges not covered by this agreement if you have available grant funding.
- More information from SCELC including agreement terms, title lists and author information.
- Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) - agreement through 2026
- Cambridge University Press - agreement through 2024, will be renewed for 2025 ***
- Company of Biologists - agreement through 2026 (includes all 5 journals)
- De Gruyter - agreement through 2026
- Emerald - agreement through 2027 NEW ***
- Covers APC for 300+ hybrid journals
- 5% APC discount for ~10 fully open access journals
- More information from SCELC including agreement terms, title lists and author information.
- The Institute of Physics (IOP) - agreement through 2025 ***
- Oxford University Press agreement through 2028 NEW ***
- Started February 4, 2025 - Articles accepted between Jan 1 and Feb 3 are not eligible
- Covers APC for 350+ hybrid journals
- There will be charges not covered by this agreement if you have available grant funding.
- $750 APC discount for fully open access journals
- More information from SCELC including agreement terms, title lists and author information.
- PLOS (Public Library of Science) - Flat Fee agreement through 2026
- Covers APC for these titles: PLOS Complex Systems, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Digital Health, PLOS Genetics, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, PLOS One and PLOS Pathogens
- Read the full instructions for submitting to a journal with the Flat Fee Agreement.
- The Royal Society - agreement through 2025
- Springer - agreement through 2026 ***
- Covers APC for 2000+ hybrid journals including Springer, society-owned “Academic Journals on Nature.com”, Adis, and Palgrave titles
- Excludes Nature-branded and Scientific American titles, Springer Fully OA journals and third-party titles from Pleiades Publishing
- More information from SCELC including agreement terms, title lists and author information.
- Wiley - agreement through 2026 ***
- There will be charges not covered by this agreement if you have available grant funding.
- More information from SCELC including agreement terms, title lists and author information.
*** These agreements are all negotiated through the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC).
Who can I contact if I have more questions about these agreements?
Contact Alyssa Resnick, Associate Dean for Technical Services and Collection Development at agresnic@usc.edu. You can also contact your subject librarian for questions about specific journals and other subject-related questions.
Where can I learn more about transformative agreements / read and publish agreements?
Scroll down to read more about the USC Libraries' agreements.
For more information on transformative agreements, two suggested readings are below.
Transformative Agreements: A Primer by Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe
Transformative Agreements from ESAC Initiative website