Six UK universities renew unlimited open access deal with JMIR Publications
Six UK universities have renewed an unlimited open access publishing agreement with JMIR Publications through Jisc, extending the arrangement until July 2027.
Newcastle University, the University of Leeds, University of Manchester, University of Nottingham, University of Southampton and University of Warwick have renewed their participation in JMIR Publications’ Flat-Fee Unlimited Open Access Publishing Agreement.
The model replaces individual article processing charges (APCs) with an institutional publishing subscription, allowing eligible researchers at participating universities to publish without paying an APC.
Corresponding authors affiliated with the six institutions can publish across JMIR Publications’ portfolio of more than 30 Gold Open Access journals, covering research across the digital health sector. The renewed agreement runs until 31 July 2027.
JMIR said the subscription model is designed to reduce the administrative and financial barriers associated with individual APC payments, while giving institutions greater predictability over their open access publishing costs.
“The decision of these six institutions to renew their participation is an endorsement of open access publishing subscriptions as a sustainable and scalable path forward for open science,” said Dennis O’Brien, VP of Communications and Partnerships at JMIR Publications. “By moving away from individual, transactional APC billing, we are establishing a more predictable and equitable publishing environment.”
Jisc, the UK’s not-for-profit digital, data and technology organisation for tertiary education and research, supports institutions in negotiating and implementing agreements with academic publishers.
JMIR Publications specialises in open access digital health research and publishes a portfolio of peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Medical Internet Research.