Open Access is the practice of making published research freely accessible to all. Whilst there are a number of mechanisms for making this content freely available, the Gold open access model used by Genetics Research requires that the published 'version of record' be made freely available to all immediately upon publication, with additional usage rights. As no subscriptions are sold to view the content, such open access journals are typically financially supported through an article processing charge (APC) levied on the submitting author's institution or funding body.
Benefits of open access with Genetics Research
- Visibility: Articles are freely available online immediately upon publication, giving the potential for increased exposure and dissemination.
- Accessibility: Gold open access allows all readers with internet access around the world to access published research without having to pay for a subscription.
- Quality: All submissions will be fully peer-reviewed, with acceptance decisions being made by an international Editorial Board independently of the Publisher.
There are many stakeholders in the publication of research: the researchers, the users and the funders. Different stakeholders have different views but many accept the fact that if you want, for example, validation, proper copyediting, presentation, sustainability, functionality (usability, reference linking, usage information, discoverability, etc), then all this has to be paid for. Traditionally this payment has been made via subscriptions. In open access publishing, the payment is made up-front, via article processing charges (APCs). APCs can be seen as a fairer payment mechanism, provided that the costs on which the charges are based reflect accurately the services offered, and provided that the acceptance process is based on peer review, rather than financial considerations.
Open access can therefore provide an opportunity to relate costs more directly to the means of publication, and it can provide a mechanism for publication that preserves the best aspects of traditional publishing whilst offering greater ease of use and more liberal copyright and ownership. Moreover, APCs mean that costs are not being met by an ever-decreasing number of libraries that are willing to subscribe, and that the costs of publication are therefore being shared more fairly, while at the same time maximizing dissemination.
Finally, publishing is competitive: authors compete for journal space, publishers compete for papers and for library budgets. Open access and APCs are a viable alternative for those authors who want to bring closer together the decisions about where to publish and how to pay, decisions that are divorced in the traditional subscription-based model.
For more information about Open Access at Cambridge University Press, see our Cambridge Open pages.
For papers submitted up to 1st October 2018 the Open Access fee to publish in Genetics Research has been waived.
Open Access publishing in Genetics Research is funded through levying an article processing charge (APC) on each individual author's institution or funding body upon acceptance of the manuscript. There are no extra submission or figure charges. For Genetics Research we are committed to maintaining the APC at a level justified by real publishing costs, and the journal will have an associated APC of £1925/$3070 per article.Case reports will be offered a 50% discount.
Cambridge University Press operates waiver policies and meet the publications costs for those authors who require support in paying publication costs.
Developing country waiver policy
Cambridge University Press operates waiver policies in line with other leading publishers. We grant 100% waivers to papers whose corresponding authors are based in Research4Life 'Group A' countries and 50% waivers to those who are based in 'Group B' countries.
Discretionary waiver policy
- (i) The author(s) must request a waiver at or before submission, before an article enters editorial consideration by contacting geneticsresearch@cambridge.org.
- (ii) The author(s) must provide documentary evidence for their request.
- (iii) The waiver request should be processed by the managing editor, without the knowledge of the editorial board.
- (iv) The waiver request should be processed as quickly as possible before the article moves from submission to editorial consideration.
- (v) The decision to approve or decline the waiver request should be based on the credibility of the evidence the author provides and the author following the journal's waiver request procedure.
Read and Publish deal authors
Information regarding Cambridge University Press Open Access Read & Publish deals can be found here. See if your institute already has an agreement with the Press.
Editorial waiver policy
Waivers will be automatically granted for all:
- Editorials
- Invited Reviews
- Errata/corrigenda
- Correspondence
Full waivers will automatically be granted via RightsLink.
The decision whether to accept a paper for publication will rest solely with the Editors, and without reference to the funding situation of the authors. The Editors, editorial board members, and reviewers will have no involvement with the billing of APCs and cannot grant waivers.
In the appropriate cases, the publication charge will be billed on acceptance of the article for publication.
The decision whether to accept a paper for publication will rest solely with the Editors, and without reference to the funding situation of the authors. The Editors, editorial board members, and reviewers will have no involvement with the billing of APCs and cannot grant waivers.
In the appropriate cases, the publication charge will be billed on acceptance of the article for publication.
Copyright Information
The author will retain the copyright of published articles.
Authors will be able to post the final published version of their article anywhere (e.g. personal webpage, institutional repository), providing the work is fully attributed. We note, however, that we can currently only track usage statistics for article views and downloads from our own site.
Licences Articles will be published, by default, under a creative commons attribution licence (CC-BY). Authors will, however, have the option to publish under a CC-BY Non-Commercial Share Alike (CC-BY-NC-SA) licence or a CC-BY Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) licence if so desired.
Find out more about creative commons licences here