The University of Groningen has joined PeerJ's Annual Institutional Memberships (AIMs) program, enabling its researchers to publish open access (OA) articles without paying individual article processing charges (APCs). This partnership underscores the university's commitment to making research freely accessible to the global community, particularly for publicly funded studies.
The agreement covers researchers affiliated with both the University of Groningen and the University Medical Center Groningen. Corresponding and submitting authors publishing in PeerJ’s suite of journals will now benefit from unlimited APC-free publishing, removing financial barriers and streamlining the publishing process.
An internationally respected research university in the Netherlands with over 30,000 students, the University of Groningen has made open access a strategic priority. The institution advocates for freely available research results to maximize public access to knowledge.
PeerJ's AIMs program simplifies OA publishing by providing a flat-fee, unlimited publishing model for partner institutions. Key benefits include:
• Cost Efficiency: No APCs for individual articles, reducing financial hurdles for authors.
• Administrative Ease: Streamlined processes for institutions, eliminating the need for article-by-article payment management.
• Global Equity: Institutions can contribute surplus funds to PeerJ’s Global Publishing Fund, supporting authors with limited resources.
Membership fees are based on an institution’s historical publishing activity within PeerJ’s journal portfolio. If the calculated APC equivalent cost is lower than the membership fee, the institution can apply the surplus toward renewal or contribute to global OA initiatives.
With its AIMs program, PeerJ is driving the transition to a non-APC model of open access, fostering globally equitable access to publish and read open science.
This partnership highlights a shared vision between the University of Groningen and PeerJ: empowering researchers, promoting accessibility, and advancing a sustainable model for open science.
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