Changes to Wiley Read and Publish Agreement

Library News Last updated 06 October

The funding of article processing charges (APCs) for publishing in fully-Open-Access Wiley journals is suspended until 1st January 2027.

The Wiley Read and Publish Open Access 2026-2028 agreement includes a gold fund for APCs in fully-Open-Access journals. The gold fund is available nationally and allocated annually on a first come first serve basis. Due to the high demand nationally for Open Access across the sector, publishing via the gold fund for 2026 has reached its cap.

If you are currently exploring publishing options, please:

a) Consider publishing in a hybrid-Open-Access Wiley journal
b) Consider publishing via one of the other Read and Publish agreements available at BCU
c) Consider publishing in an alternative journal - Open Access, REF and funder mandates can still be achieved by applying BCU's Institutional Rights Retention Policy

APCs for articles in fully-Open-Access Wiley journals from a gold fund is only guaranteed when all three of the following conditions are met:

1. L&LR have approved the funding request
2. Wiley have accepted the article editorially
3. You, the author, have signed the Open Access licence

If Library and Learning Resources (L&LR) have approved your funding request but the other two conditions have not been met, then your article is classed as under review.

If an article under review is accepted in 2026, with all three of the above conditions met, the request will proceed to Wiley's author-pays workflow which includes a standard 15% discount on the APC cost. L&LR cannot fund APCs, therefore authors are advised to consider alternative funding or publishing routes in this scenario.

If an article under review is accepted in 2027, with all three of the above conditions met, funding will be taken from the new gold fund for 2027.

Please contact the L&LR Content and Open Research team with any questions.