Transformative Agreements

In addition to the changes in the research process itself, Open Science is also transforming the publishing models of scientific journals. Some journals are thus changing their current publishing model, which is mainly dependent on subscription payments, to a new model which simultaneously embraces Open Access. These 'hybrid' journals give authors the choice between traditional 'closed' subscription-based publishing and OA publishing, with the latter incurring an additional fee in the form of Article Processing Charges (APCs). APC pricing varies between individual journals and publishers, with the lower end of the price range falling within several thousand Euros.

In the Czech Republic, the above-mentioned hybrid journals have entered into so-called transformative agreements with the CzechELib consortium, which thus provides member institutions not only with access to subscription-only content within these journals, but also with access to a certain number of APC tokens, i.e. discounts or complete waivers of APCs for selected journals. More information about the individual publishers involved in this hybrid publishing model can be found on the consortium's website.

UO authors can utilise APC tokens included in the CzechELib consortium's transformative agreements under certain conditions and through specific steps taken during the publication process of a given result. All information on the use of APC tokens can be found on the Open Access Publishing Discounts page.

Updated: 19. 02. 2025