Penn State University Libraries has announced it will enter into new open-access publishing agreements with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the American Chemical Society (ACS) beginning in 2026. The agreements are intended to ensure that Penn State peer-reviewed research published through these organizations is available free of charge to authors and readers.
The agreements support Penn State’s open-access policy enacted in January 2020, which aims to make scholarly research available to the commonwealth and worldwide. The arrangements address open-access requirements from federal funding agencies by removing author publishing charges.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) will move to a fully open-access publishing model starting in 2026. Penn State will participate through a read and publish agreement that eliminates author publishing charges. ACM publishes more than 75 journals, seven magazines, and conference proceedings from approximately 170 conferences. Penn State researchers have published nearly 100 articles annually in ACM publications in recent years.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation (PALCI), which includes Penn State as a member, have reached a renewable three-year agreement to eliminate author publishing charges for Penn State researchers. ACS publishes more than 90 journals, including two new titles scheduled to be added in 2026. Penn State researchers publish more than 100 peer-reviewed articles annually in ACS publications.
Both agreements are unlimited, with no cap on the number of eligible articles per year. Penn State students and researchers will also have access to all journals published by ACM and ACS. The agreements support compliance with open access policy and open access mandates from federal funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Click here to read the original press release.
