IOP Publishing (IOPP) and the University of California (UC) have formalized a three-year transformative open access agreement designed to streamline publishing for UC researchers and enhance worldwide access to research in physics and related disciplines.
Under this agreement, corresponding authors at all ten UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will benefit from full coverage of open access fees when publishing in any of IOPP’s 77 owned or partner journals. Qualifying articles published since January 1, 2025, will be eligible for retrospective fee conversion or reimbursement, ensuring no financial burden on authors.
This initiative aims to maximize the visibility and reach of UC scholarship by removing cost and administrative barriers to open publishing. Authors can verify their eligibility using the IOPP Journal Finder tool or the UC Journal Open Access Lookup Tool (JOLT), which lists titles covered under UC’s transformative agreements, including this partnership with IOPP.
The agreement emerges amid uncertain funding environments for U.S. researchers, reinforcing shared priorities for academic openness and affordability. IOPP identifies that open access articles in its journals receive significantly higher engagement—approximately 70 percent more downloads and 15 percent more citations than subscription-only content—underscoring the benefits of broader access.
This collaboration extends UC’s existing strategy to support open scholarship. In addition to this deal with IOPP, UC maintains transformative open access agreements with 22 major publishers, while IOPP’s institutional partnerships encompass more than 1,000 institutions across 40 countries. Together, these commitments affirm both organizations' dedication to advancing open science and ensuring equitable global access to academic research.
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