Guide for corresponding authors at institutions with Read & Publish and other transformative Open Access agreements
Corresponding authors at institutions with all Read & Publish agreements can publish Open Access research articles without paying an article processing charge (APC) in our journals.
Step 1: Check if the corresponding author’s institution has a Read & Publish or other transformative Open Access agreement with The Company of Biologists
The following guide to the article submission process applies to corresponding authors at institutions listed here.
If your institution is not on the list, you may wish to contact your library to find out if they are planning to participate soon.
Step 2: Check which journal package your institution has signed up to
Institutions have a choice of a three- or five-journal Read & Publish package. You will see from the list here in which journals you can publish your article Open Access without paying an APC:
- Three-journal package: Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology
- Five-journal package: Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open
Step 3: Submit your article using our Bench>Press submission system
- Follow the link to the submission system for your chosen journal below.
(*Corresponding authors from Max Planck Society Institutes, University of California campuses and other institutions with five-journal Read & Publish agreements.)
- If you already have a Bench>Press account, log on using your existing username and password. If you are a first-time user, you will need to create an account.
- Enter the “Author Area” and select “Submit a new manuscript”.
- The affiliation of the corresponding author is used to determine eligibility for discounted or waived article processing charges so please ensure that the corresponding author is agreed before submission.
- When providing your contact details, please include your institutional email address, as well as the full name and address of your institution, including country.
- If you are submitting an article to Development, Journal of Cell Science or Journal of Experimental Biology, please follow the on-screen instructions and be sure to select “Gold Open Access” and “Read & Publish fee waiver”. (Please note: This step is not required for Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.)
Step 4: What you need to do if your article is accepted
- Complete and return the Publication Agreement in your Bench>Press Author Area.
- We will send you a link to our RightsLink system and, if your institution has a Read & Publish agreement with us, an automatic fee-waiver will be applied. Please note: If your institution has opted-in for the Touch-Free workflow, this is your final step as your institution will receive a copy of the transaction link and will action the funding request. You will receive a confirmation email as soon as your institution confirms your eligibility.
- If your institution has not opted for a Touch-Free workflow, you will receive a transaction link. Please select “Seek funding from [name of institution]” and then click “next”. You will be taken to the sign in page of our RightsLink Open Access payment system. If you already have an account, log in using your existing username and password. If you are a first-time user, you will need to create an account.
- When you are signed in, you can review your details, approve the terms and conditions, and select ‘Submit for Approval’.
- You will receive a confirmation email as soon as your institution confirms that you are eligible for free OA publishing under their Read & Publish agreement with us. A PDF proof of your article will be sent to you for review, and the final approved version will be published under an Open Access CC BY license.
Step 5: Promote and share your article
Your article will be published Open Access. This means you can share the article as widely as you like (via social media and scholarly collaboration networks, by email, in your teaching etc) in the knowledge that everyone worldwide – regardless of their institution’s licensing arrangements – can read it and share it further.
Any questions? Please click on the links below to email the relevant journal:
