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Open Access

"Read and Publish" Agreements

A "Read and Publish" agreement is an agreement that bundles journals subscriptions and APCs, allowing researchers from a university to publish open-access articles in hybrid or full open-access journals using prepaid APCs. They should be transitory, making it easier for publishers to switch from a subscription to an open-access model. These agreements are negotiated at the national level by the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries. This concerns journal articles only, not monographs. 

In 2021, Switzerland has Read and Publish agreements with:

  • Cambridge University Press (illimited in all hybrid and full OA journals) 
  • Elsevier (with 3000 articles in 2021, 3150 in 2022, unlimited in 2023 for all Switzerland)
  • Sage (illimited publication in all hybrid journals, 20% discount on APCs in full OA journals)
  • Springer (with 5 APCs included for 2021, and 7 for 2022 for researchers of the Graduate Institute)
  • Taylor and Francis (255 articles in 2021, 357 in 2022, 449 in 2023 for all Switzerland). The annual number of articles for 2021 has already been reached!
  • Wiley (hybrid journals only, discount on APCs in full OA journals).

How does it work?

Funders such as the Swiss National Science Foundation are financing APCs for their grantees. Read and Publish agreements are meant for researchers with no alternative financing source.

Eligible authors are automatically identified by their affiliation or their e-mail address and offered the open access option. Their affiliation is validated by the Graduate Institute library. If there are several authors, the corresponding author must be affiliated with the Graduate Institute.

Assessing the Quality of an OA Journal

  • The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a "white list" of open access and peer-reviewed journals whose quality has been checked. It also contains information about publication charges, if applicable.
  • The ThinkCheckSubmit website gives sound advice on the assessment of journals. ThinkCheckAttend provides information about predatory conferences. Another interesting resource: A beginner's guide to avoiding "predatory" journals (using your critical thinking skills). 
  • Check the journal's website: members of the editorial board (even though some fake journals mention names of academics without their knowledge or permission, check their web page to see whether they mention the journal), information about the peer-reviewing process, is there clear information about the publication charges, is there a clearly delimited subject area, does the journal promise an unrealistically fast turnaround?
  • Beware: some unscrupulous journals may choose a title close to the title of an established journal. Many of them love to have the words "international", "European" or "American" in their titles. 
  • Check several issues of the journal and assess its quality by yourself.
  • And, of course, beware of unsolicited e-mails inviting you to contribute, to join an editorial board, or speak at a conference, particularly if they contain excessive flattery.