Explainer · Plain-language

Apc: Definition, Meaning & Examples | CASRAI

An article processing charge (APC) is a fee paid to a publisher to make an article open access — free to read at the version of record. It is the most common funding model for Gold open access, and is typically paid by the author, their institution, or their funder rather than by the reader.

CASRAI plain-language explainers — clear answers to recurring research-administration questions

The step most authors miss

Doing CRediT right? Don’t stop at the statement.

A CRediT statement credits you inside one paper. The recognition CRediT was built for happens when those roles are tied to you, persistently. Sign in with your ORCID — free — and claim your CRediT contributions on casrai.org, the home of the standard. They become a verified, portable part of your identity, not a line that disappears into one PDF.

Free: claim your contributions, then export a journal-ready CRediT statement, schema.org structured data, JATS XML, CSV or BibTeX — and preview your public profile. A membership publishes that profile publicly and verifies the journals you serve.

What an APC pays for and who pays it

An APC covers a publisher’s costs of making an article openly available — editorial handling, peer-review management, production, hosting, and DOI registration. Crucially, the reader pays nothing; the cost moves to the author side. In practice the charge is rarely met from a researcher’s own pocket: it is usually covered by the institution (often via a library fund), by the research funder as an allowable grant cost, or through a publisher agreement the institution has signed.

APCs, hybrid journals and double dipping

Fully open-access journals charge an APC to make every article free to read. Hybrid journals are subscription titles that also offer a paid open-access option per article — a model criticised for "double dipping", where a publisher earns both subscription income and APCs from the same journal. cOAlition S’s Plan S restricts funding of APCs in hybrid journals except under transformative arrangements designed to move titles fully to open access.

Transformative agreements and waivers

To manage APC spending, libraries and consortia negotiate transformative (or "read and publish") agreements that combine reading access with a pre-paid allocation of open-access publishing, so individual authors do not see a separate bill. Many publishers also operate APC waivers or discounts for authors based in lower-income countries (for example through Research4Life), intended to reduce the equity barrier that author-side charges can create.

Diamond OA — the no-APC alternative

Diamond (sometimes Platinum) open access charges neither readers nor authors. Costs are met collectively by institutions, libraries, learned societies, or funders. It avoids the equity problems of APCs entirely and is actively encouraged within the Plan S / cOAlition S context. The trade-off is sustainability: Diamond journals depend on continued collective funding rather than per-article revenue.

Key facts

At a glance

Definition: Author-side fee that funds open access at the version of record
Model: The primary funding route for Gold open access
Who pays: Usually the author’s institution or funder, not the reader
Hybrid risk: "Double dipping" — subscription income plus APCs in one title
Managed by: Transformative ("read and publish") agreements; waivers
Alternative: Diamond OA charges neither readers nor authors

Common misconceptions

What people often get wrong

Often heard: All open-access journals charge an APC.

Actually: No — Diamond (Platinum) open-access journals are free to read and free to publish, funded collectively. Many fully OA journals charge no APC at all.

Often heard: The author always pays the APC personally.

Actually: Rarely — APCs are typically met by the institution (often a library fund), the research funder as an allowable cost, or a transformative agreement, and waivers exist for eligible authors.

Often heard: A higher APC means a higher-quality journal.

Actually: No — APC levels reflect a publisher’s pricing and business model, not editorial standards. Price is not a reliable proxy for quality or rigour.

Going deeper