Publish Open Access at No Cost Through RIT Libraries

RIT Libraries has partnered with several scholarly publishers to support open access publishing for RIT authors. Publishing open access increases the visibility, accessibility, and impact of your research, often leading to broader readership and increased citation rates.

Since launching these partnerships, RIT authors have been able to publish open access in leading journals while avoiding thousands of dollars in article processing charges (APCs), making RIT research more accessible to readers worldwide.

These partnerships are made possible through transformative agreements, also known as Read and Publish agreements. Unlike traditional subscription models that only provide access to published content, transformative agreements allow institutions to both read scholarly literature and support their researchers in publishing open access without paying individual Article Processing Charges (APCs).

These agreements recognize that universities contribute not only as consumers of scholarship but also as creators of new knowledge. By covering eligible open access publishing costs, RIT Libraries helps reduce financial barriers for authors while expanding the reach of RIT research.

What is Open Access Publishing? 

Open Access (OA) publishing is part of a global movement that seeks to make scholarly research freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world. Instead of being restricted behind subscription paywalls, open-access articles can be read, shared, and, in many cases, reused by researchers, educators, students, practitioners, and the public.

Traditionally, authors often transfer copyright to publishers, limiting how and where they can share their own work. Open access publishing offers alternatives that allow authors to retain more rights while increasing the visibility and impact of their research.

Open access publishing takes several forms:

• Gold Open Access – Articles are made immediately available online by the publisher, sometimes with an Article Processing Charge (APC).
• Diamond Open Access – Articles are freely available without fees for either authors or readers.
• Green Open Access – Authors share a version of their article through an institutional repository or disciplinary archive.
• Bronze Open Access – Articles are free to read on the publisher's website but may not include clear reuse rights.

By supporting open access publishing, RIT helps ensure that research created by our faculty, staff, and students can reach the broadest possible audience and contribute to the global exchange of knowledge.

Since 2024, RIT Libraries has established transformative agreements with several major publishers, including:

• American Chemical Society (ACS)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Cambridge University Press
• Elsevier
• Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
• Springer Nature

In addition to supporting open-access publishing, these agreements have expanded access to scholarly content for the RIT community, including more than 400 journals from Cambridge University Press and more than 700 from Springer Nature. These resources support the teaching, learning, and research needs of RIT faculty, staff, and students across a wide range of disciplines.

Who Is Eligible?

These agreements apply to RIT-affiliated authors, including faculty, staff, and students at both the Rochester campus and RIT Global campuses.

Please note that eligibility is based on your affiliation with RIT at the time an article is submitted for publication. Individuals who have graduated or otherwise left the university before submitting their manuscript are generally not eligible for coverage under these agreements.

Important Information

• Not all journals published by participating publishers are covered under these agreements.
• Eligibility requirements and covered journal lists vary by publisher.
• Current agreements are time-limited and subject to renewal. While some agreements may be extended, continuation is not guaranteed.

For complete details, including publisher-specific eligibility requirements and journal coverage, visit the Open Access Publishing Partnerships guide:

Learn more: Open Access Publishing Partnerships Guide and Open Access Publishing

A DOI is a permanent, unique identifier that makes scholarly and creative works easier to discover, cite, and track over time. Unlike a standard web address, a DOI remains stable even if the location of a resource changes, ensuring long-term access to your work.

A DOI may be particularly useful for digital exhibits, ASL videos, educational resources, datasets, technical reports, community-engaged scholarship, and other creative or scholarly works that fall outside traditional journal publishing.

Through a partnership with RIT Research & Computing and our membership with DataCite, RIT Libraries can assign DOIs to a wide range of research and scholarly outputs, including:

• Datasets
• Technical reports
• Conference materials
• Audio and video content
• Digital projects
• White papers
• Other scholarly and creative works

Learn more: DOI Services