Open Access

If you are required, or plan to publish your article via the gold route, then you will normally be asked to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) by the publisher. We have two funds to help with this. Money from both funds is allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

Look at our compliancy checklist to ensure that your paper complies with your funder’s policy and is eligible for the next REF.

Papers acknowledging UKRI funding

UKRI provides Cranfield with a limited block grant to pay APCs for gold open access publishing. Your paper must meet these requirements to qualify:

• The journal you are publishing in must appear on the University's guidance on where to publish (on the Intranet). If your journal is not on this list, please contact your research information specialist who will find out if it can be funded and get back to you.
• The paper must acknowledge UKRI funding (this does not include Innovate UK).
• The corresponding author is from Cranfield University.
• The paper must include a data availability statement, and link to a DOI containing the underlying data, if appropriate.

Projects acknowledging a UK industrial partner

The University has secured additional Higher Education Innovation funding (HEIF fund) to assist with APCs where there is a UK industrial partner. The fund is available on a first come first served basis, and your paper must meet these requirements to qualify:

• The journal you are publishing in must appear on the University's guidance on where to publish (on the Intranet). If your journal is not on this list, please contact your research information specialist who will find out if it can be funded and get back to you.
• Your research has significant support from a UK industrial partner (co-authoring the paper or as a joint funder; RCUK Industrial CASE Studentships are unlikely to be eligible), and should acknowledge this.
• The corresponding author is from Cranfield University.
• The paper must include a data availability statement, and link to a DOI containing the underlying data, if appropriate.

HEIF Fund update: the fund has been spent for this financial period.

Before you submit your article...

The Library has agreements with some publishers to negotiate pilot financing models to help pay for APC charges and meet the growing demand for researchers to publish in Open Access journals. View publisher deals.

If you are a member of a Professional Society and submitting an article for publication in one of their journals, you may also be entitled to additional discounts on APC charges.

Request an APC payment