Transparent price setting

At Emerald we are committed to providing publication options that meet the needs of all, ensuring that individuals' circumstances don’t create a barrier to publication.

We are committed to sustainable and equitable routes to open access publishing as well as maintaining subscription publications while our communities want them; our open access output continues to grow each year, as does our subscription article output.

Whether the content we publish is open access or subscription, we are committed to maintaining high levels of quality throughout our editorial, peer review and publishing process. We strive to ensure that we offer equitable, healthy and sustainable research and publishing for all, focusing on disciplines that drive positive change in society.

Our open access articles are funded by payments for publishing (Article Processing Charges (APCs) or equivalent, such as via Read and Publish agreements) made by authors, their institutions or research funding bodies.

Our APC and equivalent pricing reflects the value we bring to the publishing process, from submission to publication, including:

• facilitating the publishing process
• managing peer review
• supporting research integrity processes
• investing in improving systems and processes to support the publication journey.

See more about our open access options and approach to open research.

Our subscription articles are funded by payments made to read our subscription journals and collection products. Subscription prices are calculated and adjusted based on the following criteria:

• number of journals
• subscription article volume
• journal reputation
• journal usage
• editorial processes
• competitive considerations
• costs and economic factors, such as size of organisation or regional inflation.

Find out more about our journal products

This means that Emerald subscriptions are priced and maintained irrespective of how many open access articles are also accepted for publication in a given year. We monitor our subscription and open access content closely to ensure that we continue to price our subscriptions appropriately. We do not ask our editors to artificially inflate subscription volume at the expense of quality, and engage with our Editorial Boards to understand where we can reasonably increase output. We are committed to reflecting on the pricing of journals and collections where increased OA publications result in a decline in the subscription content.

We offer both funded and unfunded authors routes to publish open access, including zero embargo green and sponsored OA models. Whilst these steps illustrate Emerald’s commitment to transparent APC price setting, we also recognise that the current Open Access ecosystem is imperfect. Critically, challenges around global equity, both in terms of open access to research and opportunities to publish open access, persist in all models. We are committed to co-creating globally sustainable, equitable open solutions with our communities, testing new models and sharing what we learn with researchers, libraries, funders and policy makers to create a more equitable path forward.