Open Access Article Processing Charges (OA APCs)

Scientific Video Protocols is a fully open access platform and we do not charge any subscription fees. Our philosophy is that authors should only be charged for the concrete services provided by the publisher. In our case, we provide peer-reviewed video articles. Open Access Article Processing Charges (APCs) are determined based on the complexity of the script agreed upon with the authors.

How do I pay?

Our Open Access Article Processing Charges (OA APCs) are generally on par with those that you would expect to pay for a standard journal article to be made available Open Access without embargo (Gold Open Access). For reference, consider the fees charged by publishers like Nature. The process of securing funds for these charges may vary depending on your institution. It is the authors' responsibility to secure these funds, and they may need to consult their department administration if funds are not immediately available. Please note, we are neither affiliated with nor planning to become members of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Furthermore, we do not provide discounts based on authors' locations.

More on the Current, Unfair, Publication Industry

Typically, authors are employed by Universities, which are partially funded by taxpayers’ money. In the traditional publication industry model, authors submit articles to peer-reviewed journals for free. These articles are then sold back to Universities at substantial subscription fees. The ‘Open-Access’ model has made little impact on this business practice. Here, publishers charge authors an ‘open-access fee’ to make the article freely accessible. In addition, publishers leverage a large pool of reviewers, typically employed by Universities, who review submitted manuscripts at no cost. Neither authors nor reviewers receive any royalties for their work.

The costs of subscription fees are often hidden under confidential agreements. However, some countries and institutes have recently begun to disclose this information. For example, Finland (with a population of 5.5 million people) paid over 25 million euros to scientific publishers in 2015, as detailed in this report. Additional public financial data on the amounts spent by various nations and universities on journal subscriptions can be found here.

Consider the analogy of a musician being required to pay a fee to a producer just to have their songs available in an online store, with no profit accruing to the musician.

Having been subjected to this unjust system for years as scientists ourselves, we’ve decided to adopt a different approach with Scientific Video Protocols by charging authors only for tangible services provided