Open access publishing has moved from being an alternative approach to scholarly communication to becoming a major part of the global research ecosystem. In 2026, researchers increasingly encounter journals offering immediate open access, institutional publishing agreements, Article Processing Charges (APCs), repository-based routes, and newer models designed to reduce or eliminate direct author payments.
The basic principle of open access is straightforward: scholarly research should be available online without conventional subscription barriers. The financial mechanisms supporting that access, however, have become increasingly diverse. Researchers therefore need to understand not only whether a journal is open access but also who pays, what rights authors retain, whether their institution has an agreement, and which publishing model the journal follows.
What Is Open Access Publishing?
Open access publishing makes scholarly articles freely accessible to readers, normally without requiring a journal subscription.
Several routes are commonly encountered.
Gold Open Access generally means that the final published article is immediately accessible on the publisher's website. Some gold open access journals charge an APC, while others do not.
Hybrid Open Access occurs when a subscription journal allows individual authors to make their articles openly accessible, often after payment of an APC.
Green Open Access normally involves depositing an appropriate version of the manuscript in an institutional or subject repository, subject to the journal's copyright and embargo conditions.
Diamond or Platinum Open Access provides free access to readers while generally charging no APC to authors.
By 2026, these approaches increasingly operate alongside institutional and consortial agreements rather than as completely separate publishing systems.
Understanding Article Processing Charges
An Article Processing Charge is a fee that some publishers charge to support the costs associated with publishing an article openly.
APCs may contribute toward editorial administration, peer-review infrastructure, manuscript production, digital hosting, metadata management, archiving, DOI registration, platform maintenance and other publishing operations.
However, APC levels differ substantially between journals and publishers.
Researchers should therefore never assume that "open access" automatically means either free publication or expensive publication. Some reputable journals charge substantial APCs, others charge moderate fees, and many legitimate open access journals charge authors nothing.
Researchers should check the journal's official APC information before submission, rather than discovering the cost after acceptance.
Authors should also distinguish APCs from other possible charges, including page charges, colour charges, excess-length fees or optional publication services.
Who Actually Pays an APC?
An important development in 2026 is that the corresponding author does not necessarily pay the APC personally.
Depending on the journal and institution, the charge may be covered by:
the author's university or research institute,
a library consortium,
a national research programme,
a funding agency,
an institutional open access fund,
a publisher agreement,
a research grant, or
a waiver or discount programme.
Institutional agreements have become particularly important.
Elsevier, for example, states that its open access agreements now involve more than 3,000 institutions and may fully cover APCs or provide discounts, depending on the agreement and author eligibility. Eligibility commonly depends on factors such as corresponding-author status, institutional affiliation and the dates of submission or acceptance.
Researchers should therefore check with their university library or research office before paying an APC themselves.
Read-and-Publish Agreements
One of the most important developments in scholarly publishing has been the growth of read-and-publish agreements.
Traditionally, universities paid publishers primarily for access to subscription journals. Under a read-and-publish arrangement, an institution or consortium negotiates a combined agreement that provides access to publisher content while also covering or reducing open access publishing charges for eligible researchers.
This can make the payment process almost invisible to the individual author.
Instead of receiving an APC invoice personally, an eligible corresponding author may simply select the institutional open access option during manuscript processing.
These arrangements are now widespread. Wiley reported in February 2026 that it had more than 125 multi-year transformational agreements involving over 3,500 institutions across 45 countries, supporting more than 95,000 open access articles.
Transformative Agreements
The term transformative agreement is closely associated with read-and-publish arrangements.
Their broader objective is to redirect expenditure historically used for journal subscriptions toward open access publishing.
The ESAC Registry provides an indication of how extensive this movement has become. ESAC reported in 2026 that more than 1,500 agreements from over 70 countries had been registered since 2019. Its registry documents agreement terms, costs, publishing arrangements and other conditions intended to improve transparency in institutional open access agreements.
Transformative agreements nevertheless vary considerably. Some offer unlimited publishing, while others impose article caps. Some include fully open access journals, while others primarily cover hybrid journals. Eligibility rules may also vary by article type, institution and corresponding-author status.
Researchers should therefore verify the terms of their own institutional agreement rather than assuming that every journal from a participating publisher is covered.
Diamond Open Access: Publishing Without APCs
One of the most important alternatives to APC-funded publishing is Diamond Open Access.
In a diamond model, neither the reader nor the author normally pays for access or publication. Instead, publishing may be supported by universities, scholarly societies, libraries, research organizations, governments or collaborative infrastructure.
This model is attractive because it removes the financial barrier facing researchers who do not have access to institutional APC funds.
It is particularly relevant to scholars in countries, institutions and disciplines where substantial publication grants are uncommon.
Diamond open access also challenges the assumption that open scholarship must depend on author-facing charges.
However, financial sustainability remains a central question. Even when authors and readers pay nothing, peer-review platforms, editorial management, preservation, metadata, hosting and production still require resources.
Subscribe to Open
Another developing model is Subscribe to Open (S2O).
Instead of charging individual authors an APC, a publisher continues seeking institutional subscription support. If sufficient institutions renew their participation, the relevant content can be made openly accessible.
The model attempts to transform existing library expenditure into support for open publication without requiring individual researchers to pay APCs.
Its growing relevance can be seen in institutional agreements being negotiated around S2O transitions. For example, an ESAC-listed 2026 agreement notes the Royal Society's planned transition of journals toward a Subscribe to Open model, illustrating how established scholarly publishers are experimenting with alternatives to conventional APC-based systems.
APC Waivers and Differential Pricing
Another important development is the growing emphasis on geographic and economic inequalities in open access publishing.
A researcher may support open access in principle but simply lack several thousand dollars or euros to pay an APC.
Publishers increasingly offer complete waivers or partial discounts for eligible authors, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
Some publishers are also experimenting with more geographically differentiated pricing approaches rather than using one global APC.
Researchers should therefore examine waiver policies before deciding that a journal is financially inaccessible.
Importantly, an author should normally investigate a waiver before completing payment, and preferably before submission when the journal's rules require advance eligibility determination.
Institutional Agreements Are Becoming More Important
For researchers in 2026, the university library has become an increasingly important part of the publication process.
Libraries are no longer concerned only with obtaining access to journals. Many now administer publisher agreements, APC funds, open access eligibility and institutional repositories.
Large-scale agreements continue to expand. In September 2026, for example, Springer Nature announced a four-year transformative agreement with the University of Texas System that includes read access and open access publishing in eligible hybrid journals and is expected to support nearly 900 openly published articles annually.
Such agreements demonstrate why researchers should check institutional eligibility before independently paying publication charges.
Does Open Access Mean Lower Quality?
No.
Open access describes an access and financing arrangement, not the scientific quality of a publication.
Many highly established journals operate fully open, hybrid or institutionally supported open access models.
At the same time, questionable and predatory journals frequently exploit the popularity of open access to collect publication fees.
Researchers should therefore evaluate journals on their editorial standards rather than judging them simply by whether they charge an APC.
Important checks include peer-review procedures, editorial-board authenticity, publisher reputation, indexing claims, publication ethics, correction and retraction policies, and transparent fee information.
A high APC does not automatically indicate high quality, just as a zero APC does not automatically indicate low quality.
What Researchers Should Check Before Submission
Before submitting a manuscript in 2026, researchers should examine five questions particularly carefully.
First, is the journal appropriate and academically credible?
Second, what open access route does it offer?
Third, what is the total APC or publication cost?
Fourth, does the author's university or funding organization already have an agreement covering the journal?
Fifth, what licence and copyright conditions will apply to the final article?
These simple checks can prevent unnecessary expenditure and help researchers choose a publishing route consistent with institutional and funder requirements.
The Future: From Paying to Publish to Funding Scholarly Communication
The direction of open access publishing suggests that scholarly communication is moving beyond the simple question of whether an individual author should pay an APC.
The emerging discussion is increasingly about how the entire publishing system should be financed.
APC-funded gold open access remains important, but it now operates alongside transformative agreements, read-and-publish contracts, Diamond Open Access, Subscribe to Open, institutional publishing platforms, repositories, waiver programmes and other collective approaches.
Evidence from 2026 shows that institutional agreements remain a significant part of this transition. Springer Nature reported that open access articles supported through its transformative agreements increased by 12% during 2025 and that it had reached 101 such agreements covering researchers at more than 4,400 institutions.
The central challenge is therefore no longer simply making research free to read. It is creating a system that is also financially sustainable, transparent and reasonably accessible to researchers regardless of geography or institutional resources.
Conclusion
Open access publishing in 2026 is more diverse than the traditional model in which authors simply pay an APC to make an article freely available.
Researchers may now publish through institutionally funded agreements, read-and-publish arrangements, transformative agreements, Diamond Open Access journals, Subscribe to Open initiatives, repositories, waivers and other emerging approaches.
For authors, the practical message is important: do not pay an APC until you have checked your institutional and funder options.
A university may already have an agreement with the publisher, an open access fund may cover the cost, or the journal may provide a waiver or alternative publishing route.
As scholarly communication continues to evolve, successful researchers will need to understand not only where to publish, but also how their chosen publishing model is funded, what rights they retain and whether the publication route provides equitable and sustainable access to knowledge.
