Publish Open Access

The University of Montpellier offers support for managing scientific publications and open-access publishing. 

Open Access to knowledge, or Open Access, is a global movement that emerged with the advent of the Internet. Its goal is to provide immediate, free, and unrestricted access—for everyone—to original scientific research findings and to the datasets that made those findings possible. Open Access (OA) to publications allows for free reading and the freedom to reuse the content.  

Two approaches have been identified to achieve this: open repositories (online repositories where researchers can upload their scholarly output) and open-access journals (scholarly journals with various business models). 

Publication Channels

Our recommendations for publishing in open access:

• Publish in a diamond journal  

This is the model we recommend for publishing in open access without having to pay additional fees.  

You can find diamond-related journals in your field through the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) or the Diamond Discovery Hub (DDH). 

For more information, check out our webinar.  

• Use the Law for a Digital Republic to deposit your postprint in an open archive 

If you want to publish in a traditional journal (for its high impact factor, for example) or if you can’t find a diamond journal that suits you, consider open access! 

A postprint is the version of your article that has been peer-reviewed but does not include the publisher’s formatting (logo, layout, pagination, etc.). Through the LRN, you can deposit it in an open-access repository with an embargo.  

For more information on submitting a postprint, visit the HAL-UM portal. 

• Use the "no assignment of rights" strategy  

To be able to deposit the postprint in an open-access repository without an embargo this time, you can also opt for the “non-transfer of rights” strategy. 

This guide details the steps to follow to implement the SNCD.    

To learn more, check out our dedicated webinar. 

Open Access journals with APCs 

Most scientific publications, which are often funded by public money, are available through subscriptions from publishers. The fees paid by institutions of higher education and research organizations to access this content are very high and continue to rise. 

"Transformative agreements," negotiated in France by the Couperin consortium, aim to transition from a traditional subscription model to a model in which all articles are published as open access through the payment of APCs. Some publishers, while not fully committed to transformative agreements, allow articles to be published as open access after payment of APCs. APCs (Article Processing Charges) are therefore publication fees charged by publishers to fund the open-access dissemination of scientific articles. 

The University of Montpellier is a signatory to a number of these agreements and thus covers the costs associated with open-access publication of articles in these journals. The Joint Documentation Service (SCD) manages subscriptions and article processing charges (APCs). 

If you are recognized as a UM-affiliated staff member and the corresponding author, you are eligible to take advantage of these agreements. Find the list of participating publishers and journals here:
For more information, please contact the Open Science Help Desk. 

The APC model is very costly: in France, APC fees have risen sharply in recent years, and the projections through 2030 are alarming. At the local level, an estimate of the APC expenses paid by the UM is available on the OpenAPC platform. 

Furthermore, the APC business model has fostered the emergence of so-called “predatory” publishers. These publishers charge APCs and publish articles after a minimal—or even nonexistent—peer-review process. Their motivation is purely financial, and publishing with them can be detrimental to authors.