Lodz University of Technology, via the TUL Library, is a participant in several national (funded entirely and directly by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education) and consortium licences (co-funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and participating institutions). Besides providing access to the publications of a particular publisher, these licenses enable authors affiliated with member institutions to publish openly without incurring costs or on preferential terms.
TUL also provides funding for OPEN ACCESS publications. The funds for this purpose come from the Rector's reserve, and the administrative support is handled by the Research Support Center.
The Regulations for Open Access publication subsidies available on the TUL website.
The TUL Library has prepared lists of journals included in Open Access publishing programs in which TUL participates, with the assignment of scientific disciplines and scores according to the current list of scientific journals and peer-reviewed materials from international conferences (Communication of the Minister of Science dated 5.01.2024).
The content has been prepared on the basis of journal lists available in the WBN Directory and on the publishers' websites.
NOTE: individual programs may contain formal restrictions and publication limits. Please refer to the program descriptions below.
In the event of changes in the range of journals covered, the launch of new OA publishing programs or the release of a new ministerial list, the lists will be updated.
Current list of journals in OA publishing programs (Status as of 27.04.2026).
For questions or comments on the prepared material, please contact the Electronic Resources Department of the TUL Library (oze@lib.p.lodz.pl).
The program is available from January 2026.
It is possible to openly publish an unlimited number of articles in the program. Manuscript eligibility is determined by the date of acceptance.
Accepted types of publications:
- research articles
- review articles
- conference or proceedings papers.
And any other article types in the Licensed Materials for which ACM would otherwise charge an Article Processing Charge.
An author submitting an article for publication in ACM in the open access model must be the corresponding author and use an e-mail address in the domain of Lodz University of Technology in order to receive the correct ACM Open eRights form to complete.
Following submission of their eRights Forms, the corresponding author will receive e-mail confirmation of the acceptance of the forms along with a copy for their records.
A list of journals eligible for open access publication under the ACM open access publishing model is available on the publisher's website.
In 2025 the pool of articles in the program is 437. The pool is not divided between institutions and articles are added to the program in the order in which they are accepted for publication. The 2025 Publishing Program has been closed due to the exhaustion of the pool of 437 free articles allocated for 2025.
The program is intended for corresponding authors affiliated with institutions participating in the consortium. In 2025 the program includes 90 journals published by ACS, including 71 hybrid journals and 19 open journals. The program includes all types of articles except: Additions and Corrections, Expressions of Concern, Retraction, In This Issue, Introducing our Authors.
The program allows authors to publish a certain number of articles accepted for publication in the current year, under a CC-BY licence, free of charge (note: “Manuscript Acceptance Date”, sometimes referred to in articles as “Revised”, is the deciding factor).
Authors sending articles to an ACS journal for review should note that at this stage (“online manuscript submission process”) they complete an online form in which they should select their affiliation from the list of institutions. It is also recommended to use an email address from the institution’s domain. Once an article has been accepted for publication by the publisher, the author receives an email from the publisher with a link to the Journal Publishing Agreement (JPA) form and, if the author has previously indicated an appropriate affiliation, with information about the possibility of participating in the program. In the JPA form the author has the option to choose OA publication with copyright. The author can also waive copyright, which does not exclude them from the program but is not recommended by ICM, or choose to publish in the traditional model. Authors who have received a link to JPA after the acceptance of their article, but without any information about the possibility of participation in the program, can report to ICM at wbn@icm.edu.pl, attaching an active DOI link to the article or, if this link is not active, the page(s) with the title, authors and affiliations from the accepted manuscript.
Information about an accepted article eligible for inclusion in the program is also forwarded by the publisher to the administrator at ICM. The administrator checks that the appropriate affiliation is stated in the article and sends a request to the author to confirm whether the author wishes to participate in the program, and whether the author has chosen to publish OA in the JPA form. If the author has not selected the OA option in the JPA form and wishes to change this, it is possible to change the author's agreement with the publisher before the article is published – at the request of the author or ICM, the publisher can send the author a new link to the JPA form (once the article has been published, changing the JPA is not possible). After receiving confirmation from the author that they have signed the JPA with the OA option selected, the administrator accepts the article's inclusion in the program. Authors using the program can also obtain assistance from ACS at any stage of publication at support@services.acs.org.
Details and updated information on the ACS open access publishing program
The program is available from 6 May 2025.
Selected hybrid journals are included in the program.
The deposit for 2025 has been exhausted.
Articles accepted for publication in the current year after signing the contract will be eligible for the program and the date the article was submitted to the journal will not be relevant. The publisher does not foresee the possibility to retroactivate articles, only articles accepted for publication after the launch of the program will be eligible.
Which journals and what types of articles are included in the program?
The program in 2025 covers 1124 hybrid journals from 7 Science Direct subject collections in line with the national licence restriction introduced in December 2022: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Computer Science, Engineering, Health Sciences, Immunology and Microbiology, Mathematics and Physics and Astronomy; and from the Lancet group. Academic institutions that are nationally licensed and subscribe individually to additional subject collections of journals may also publish in these journals under the program.
The program excludes gold open access journals and some journals co-published by Elsevier, where open access publications are funded under special rules and cannot be implemented under the national program. The program covers the following article types: Case Reports, Data, Full Length Articles, Micro Articles, Software, Reviews, Replication Study, Short Communications, Short Surveys, Videos, Practice Guidelines and Protocols, see description of types.
Which fees are covered by the program?
The only fee covered by the program is the Article Processing Charge (APC). Authors publishing in the program are exempt from the APC charge, which is presented by Elsevier on the Rights and Access form as a 100% discount. Catalogue APC prices (without discount) are available on the publisher's website, but this price list only provides information for the basic Full Length Article type, and does not take into account additional discounts to the APC that may be applied by editors. Binding APC price information for an article before and after the program discount is visible to the author as soon as the article is accepted for publication in the Rights and Access form described below under ‘When and how can I submit an article to the program?’ and to the administrator in the EOAP system.
Some journals charge additional fees, e.g. a fee on the number of pages (‘Page Charges’), a fee for acceptance of the manuscript (‘Submission Fee’) or for additional services that may be requested by the author (prints, colour drawings in print, etc.). These fees are described in the instructions for authors on the home pages of the respective journals and are indicated in the correspondence with the editors or on the special page to which the author is referred by the editors after acceptance of the article for publication. These fees are not indicated on the Rights and Access form described below, where only the APC fee is indicated. Additional charges are billed between the journal and the author on a separate invoice. The ‘Page Charges’ fee applies regardless of the open-access or subscription model of publication and, as of March 2021, is applied by more than a dozen journals, but when publishing in any journal, the author should check the current policy on the journal's website.
Where can I get help with the program?
Any questions about the programme can be addressed to Elsevier Publishing at support@elsevier.com and to the JNC at wbn@icm.edu.pl. In case of problems with the publication of a specific article, it is advisable to provide the DOI identifier in the correspondence, if it is already assigned to the article. Information about the Polish program is also available on the Elsevier website. In addition, webinar recordings for librarians and authors on the principles of publishing under Elsevier's Open Access model under the National Licence can be viewed: Elsevier library journey, Elsevier author journey. At wbn@icm.edu.pl you can also get in touch with the local administrators of the Elsevier publishing program at each institution.
Details and updated information on the Elsevier national open access publishing program
The program includes all hybrid and Gold Open Access journals.
The deposit for 2025 has been exhausted.
A deposit made by the Library of Lodz University of Technology enables corresponding authors from TUL to publish a limited number of Open Access articles without incurring APC costs.
At the stage of submitting a publication for review, the corresponding author should indicate Lodz University of Technology as their affiliation and, once the article has been accepted by the publisher, indicate our University as the funder of the publication on the RightsLink platform.
The program is intended for corresponding authors affiliated with institutions participating in the consortium that have solicited and prepaid for themselves the publication of a specified number of articles. The program includes all IEEE open and hybrid journals, see the IEEE Open page.
Authors interested in participating in the program should indicate the relevant affiliation at the stage of sending the article for review (the author does not receive automatic notifications about the possibility of participating in the program) and then, once they have received notification that the article has been accepted for publication, use the RightsLink system, where they can select funding from the pool of articles funded by their institution, see guide for authors. Information about the article is directed to the local program administrator at the institution, who approves the publication of the article in the program. The IEEE licence with the publishing program is coordinated by the publisher's exclusive representative, Ebsco, contact person: Anna Abramowska AAbramowska@ebsco.com.
The local administrator for the program at TUL is the Electronic Resources department of the TUL Library (contact information at the bottom of the page).
Additional links:
IEEE Open – list of journals and other general information
IEEEAuthor Center – instructions for authors
RightsLink – publication funding management system
Author posting guidelines – rules for disseminating articles
Details and updated information on the IEEE open access publishing program
The program includes all hybrid and Gold Open Access journals.
The publisher has decided to continue the program in 2026. Updated information will be available once the new agreement for 2026–2028 has been signed.
The program is available to corresponding authors affiliated with institutions participating in the IOP consortium. It covers all hybrid and fully open-access IOP journals and all publication types, allowing an unlimited number of articles accepted in the current year to be published free of charge under the CC BY license.
Eligibility is determined based on the corresponding author’s affiliation provided at submission. After acceptance, IOP informs ICM, which confirms the article’s inclusion once the affiliation is verified. As part of the system introduced in 2021, authors complete an additional form during peer review or after acceptance to select open-access publication under the program. Articles are excluded if the author opts out of OA or chooses to fund publication from another source. Authors who do not receive an OA offer upon acceptance may contact ICM directly (wbn@icm.edu.pl). Information about the program is also available on the publisher’s website.
Lodz University of Technology is also a participant in the IOAP program (Institutional Open Access Program) by the MDPI publisher, so authors affiliated with the University can obtain a 10% discount on the APC fee – simply select its name on the list of included institutions when submitting your manuscript. Additional information can be found at Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP).
The Royal Society of Chemistry's Open Access publishing program has launched in January 2026 with an unlimited pool of articles.
Full details of the program can be found on the publisher's website, where a search engine for RSC journals is also available.
The program is an addition to the national licence for access to the Science journal. The Science journal operates only in the subscription model, and a separate open-access journal, Science Advances, is intended for open access.
In 2026 the pool of articles in the program is 10 articles nationwide - The program may be discontinued if, in the first quarter of 2026, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education does not grant funding for the Science Advances license for 2026.
The offer is available to corresponding authors affiliated with Polish institutions included in the Science license, who indicated this affiliation on the title page of the article. The publisher self-identifies such articles, but corresponding authors whose articles have been accepted for publication may also contact ICM at wbn@icm.edu.pl in order to participate in the program.
Details and updated information on the Science Advances open access publishing program
In 2026 the pool of articles in the program is unlimited.
Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3) is an international consortium that funds open scientific publications in the field of particle physics.
The program includes select journals from publishers: APS, Springer, Elsevier, IOP, OUP and the Jagiellonian University, see scoap3.org. The journals are fully or partially funded by SCOAP3.
Scientists from all over the world can publish in these journals and do not incur any individual fees.
Details and updated information on the SCOAP3 open access publishing program
The Springer Open Access Program was relaunched on 24 April 2026 with a pool of 1,381 articles.
The program allows corresponding authors affiliated with Polish academic institutions covered by the Springer national license to publish open access articles in Springer hybrid journals. It also includes 62 journals that have transitioned to a fully open access model since 2022.
Article Processing Charges (APCs) are covered by the Springer national license, funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW).
The program covers selected Springer hybrid journals, 62 fully open access Springer journals, and 20 ADIS hybrid journals. It applies to Original Papers, Review Papers, Brief Communications, and Continuing Education articles. Editorials, letters, and news items are excluded.
Eligibility is based on the affiliation of the corresponding author, which must match an institution participating in the program and verified via the Article Approval Service (AAS). The affiliations of co-authors do not affect eligibility.
The program covers the APC only; additional optional charges (e.g. for color figures) are not included. One exception applies to the journal Advances in Therapy, which charges a mandatory fee not covered by the program.
After article acceptance, the corresponding author completes the Springer “Publishing and rights” form (see presentation: Author eligibility workflow) If the institution is eligible and the annual article pool is still available, the article is published open access at no cost to the author. Final approval is subject to affiliation verification by the local administrator.
For support, authors may contact Springer Nature (oa.verification@springernature.com) or WBN support (wbn@icm.edu.pl).
Information about the program is also available on the publisher's website: Open access agreement for ICM Poland.
The 2025 Publishing Program has been closed due to the exhaustion of the pool of 137 free articles allocated for 2025.
The program is intended for corresponding authors affiliated with institutions participating in the T&F consortium that have additionally applied for the Open Publishing Program. The program covers all hybrid (‘Open Select’) journals, see list 2025, including the most widely read journals, which are additionally listed under ‘High Impact’. The current list of Open Select journals can be generated on the publisher's website, where the ‘Open Select’ status and the Routlege and Taylor&Francis publishers must be ticked (our licence does not cover journals with ‘Full open access’ status or Dove Press). The program covers certain types of articles. The program allows a certain number of articles accepted for publication in the current year to be published without charge to the authors, and the pool of articles is shared by all participating institutions.
Once the publishing program is launched, the publisher's system will automatically qualify articles that are eligible for publication under the program based on the affiliation provided by the corresponding author at the article submission stage, the journal title and the article type. This pre-qualification will take place as soon as the article is accepted for publication and, at this point, the system will also check whether the program's article pool for the year is yet to be exceeded and, in the case of an article in a High Impact journal, whether the article pool for that group for the year is not exceeded. If the article qualifies for the program, the author will receive an email from the publisher informing them of this possibility and a second email with a link to the Author Publishing Agreement form, see presentation for authors. If the author indicates on the form that he/she wishes to use the program, the article will then be routed to an administrator at ICM who, in consultation with the participating institutions, will verify the author's affiliation and accept or reject the article to/from the program. If the article is rejected, the publisher's system will ask the author to fill in the agreement form again and choose either open access publication at their own expense or in a subscription model.
The coordinator for the T&F program and licence is ICM, contact information: wbn@icm.edu.pl. Information for authors can also be found on the publisher's website and the WBN website.
Details and updated information on the T&F open access publishing program
Journal Checker Tool
The compatibility of the chosen journal's publishing policy with the requirements of the open access policy outlined in Plan S can be checked using the Journal Checker Tool.
Searching with this tool involves entering the journal title or ISSN, the name of the institution funding the research and employing the researcher.
Contact information
If you have questions about open publishing programs, please contact with Electronic Resources department of the TUL Library (oze@lib.p.lodz.pl, phone: 42 631 20 51) or contact directly at e-mail addresses provided on the website of the Virtual Library of Science (WBN) along with the information about individual programs (not applicable to RSC, ACM and MDPI).