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Royal Society of Chemistry

About the Agreement

As of January 1st, 2024, BU Libraries has entered into a Read & Publish Transformative Open Access (OA) Agreement with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) through Lyrasis which supports OA publishing programs as well as open research infrastructure programs. Lyrasis is a membership organization serving libraries and cultural heritage organizations across the nation and internationally, including BU Libraries, to support initiatives of OA, open knowledge, and inclusive access to knowledge. As part of this agreement with RSC, the Article Processing Charge (APC) is fully waived for all BU-affiliated authors publishing OA articles in the RSC’s journals which can be found in the Journal Finder webpage. Learn more about a Read & Publish Transformative Agreement with RSC.  

Who is Eligible?

All BU scholars are eligible to have RSC charges waived, provided that:

  • The corresponding author of the manuscript is a BU scholar/affiliated with BU at the time of paper acceptance;
  • The BU affiliation, address, and email is used for manuscript submission;
  • The manuscript has been accepted for publication on or after January 1st, 2024.

Article types not covered by transformative agreements

In general, peer reviewed articles are eligible for publication in this agreement and fall into three main types: full papers, communications, and reviews. Editorials and corrections are not covered under this agreement. 

How to Apply

Author Guide Read&Publish Workflows (PDF)

To apply for the Transformative OA Agreement benefit as a corresponding author: 

1.  After your article has been accepted for publication, you will receive a unique link to access the RSC license system. 

2. When you follow this link and enter the RSC license system, you will see an initial welcome page with details about your article. Your name should be listed as the corresponding author. 

3. Select “Start Now” to move to a screen that offers you the opportunity to select between GOLD OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATION and STANDARD PUBLICATION. 

4. Corresponding authors from BU can make your article Gold OA at no cost because the transformative agreement with RSC covers the article processing charge. Select GOLD OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATION and press continue.  [Note: If you pick STANDARD PUBLICATION instead of GOLD OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATION, you can continue, but bear in mind that your article will only be accessible to readers who subscribe to your chosen journal.] 

 5. You will be shown relevant Creative Commons (CC) licence options. Once you have read the full terms of each license, select your preferred option and then select CONTINUE. 

6. Double-check that your publication route and licence are correct. The payment box will confirm that all charges have been covered by BU. Select CONFIRM AND FINISH to complete the steps. 

For any other questions, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu.

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