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IOP Science

Article Publication Charges

Article publication charges at IOP Publishing

IOP Publishing publishes scientific journals that foster specialist research communities, validate research findings, and surface the most relevant scientific knowledge to interested audiences around the world. We are dedicated to making universal open access to the research we publish a reality. Our services help ensure the discoverability, impact, speed and quality of research.

The costs associated with high-quality open access publishing in IOP Publishing’s journals are covered by article publication charges (APCs). These can be paid by organisations, funders or researchers. In some cases, the cost of an APC is sponsored in full or in part by IOP Publishing or one of our society partners. APCs are listed on each journal website and included in the full price list below. Where APCs apply, they are only charged once an article has been accepted for publication. There is no charge if an article is rejected (before or after peer review), and there are no submission fees.

Prices are listed in three different currencies and are exclusive of any local taxes. You can download the most current price list.

For further information about APCs, including available discounts and waivers, please visit our paying for open access page.

For details of APCs for journals published on behalf of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), please visit the AAS article charges and copyright page.

Transformative and institutional open access agreements

IOP has established agreements to enable authors from a variety of institutions to publish on an open access basis at no cost to themselves. Further details about these agreements can be found on our transformative agreement hub.

Use IOPP Journal Finder to see if you might be covered by a transformative agreement.

Go to IOPP Journal Finder

APC cost breakdown

The publication charges for open access publishing enable us to provide services that meet the highest scientific and ethical standards, foster collaboration and communication between research communities, deliver fast editorial decisions and high impact for our authors, and ensure secure and trusted stewardship of the scholarly record over the long term.

Different journals may charge different APC rates, with the variances determined by several factors, including:

  • Rejection rates: the proportion of articles reviewed that are not ultimately accepted for publication.
  • Additional or customised editorial evaluation requirements.
  • The amount of community-building and editorial development work undertaken by journal staff.
  • Average levels of article language editing, formatting and structuring required.
  • Frequency and intensity of article marketing and promotion.

The average APC paid for publication in an IOP Publishing journal breaks down as follows:

This breakdown illustrates that the majority of each APC contributes towards high quality peer review and community development. These are areas where IOP Publishing differs from many other scientific publishers. The editorial planning, the commissioning of content, the running of associated community events and the management of peer review are all undertaken by our in-house staff rather than by volunteer external academics. This approach requires us to invest more heavily to hire editorial professionals but significantly reduces the burden placed on the research community in the operation of scholarly communications and allows practicing scientists to spend maximum time on their research.

We are committed to open physics. This means that when researchers publish in our journals, they can be assured we are working to increase access, transparency and inclusivity in scientific communications.

IOP Publishing is a wholly owned subsidiary of the charity and not-for-profit Institute of Physics, one of the world’s oldest scholarly societies. 100% of any financial surplus generated from our activities is passed to the Institute of Physics, which uses this surplus to directly support the scientific community. Current programmes at the Institute of Physics include, but are not limited to, developing global scientific capability, improving access to physics education and training, influencing public dialogue and government policy to support the scientific community, and supporting diversity in science.