During the four-year period (2020-2023), Unimore’s total spending on APCs (article processing charges) increased, reflecting the direct costs of providing open access to individual articles. The amount paid per APC also rose. Additionally, the costs of contracts with publishers increased — a trend that is not new — driven by the “publish” component of Read & Publish agreements.
Publications
14,000
Of the more than 14,000 publications produced during the four-year period, 36% were published in open access.
» open access publications increased by 55% between 2020 and 2023.
» 70% of open access publications are concentrated among just six publishers: 30% were published by MDPI, another 30% by Springer Nature, Elsevier and Wiley insieme, and 10% by Frontiers and BMC.
» 71% of open access publications follow the gold route, although this trend is decreasing in favor of hybrid publishing models.
Expenditure on APCs
1.6 mln €
In the four-year period a total of 804 APCs were paid, amounting to approximately €1.6 mln .
» unimore’s outlay on apcs increased by 121% between 2020 and 2023.
» 80% of the apc expenditure is borne by Departments and Centers in the biomedical field.
» 81% of the apc outlay is concentrated among seven publishers, with MDPI accounting for the largest share (31%).
» 86% of the APC were paid for gold open access, totaling €1.3mln.
Read&Publish Outlay
8 mln €
The outlay on journal and database subscriptions amounted to €8mln over the four-year period.
» spending on read&publish agreements increased by 187% between 2020 and 2023.
» overall subscription outlay grew by 23% between 2020 and 2023.
» in 2020 four Read&Publish agreements were active, by 2023 the number had risen to nine, totaling €1.5mln.
» a significant share of this amount (near €1mln) is allocated to Elsevier alone.
useful LINKs
» Read&Publish agreements @UNIMORE
2020-2023 | APC and R&P @Unimore Report