An APC can look like a price for turning a manuscript into a PDF. It pays for work before and after publication, including work on papers the journal turns down.
What an article processing charge is
An article processing charge (APC) is a fee for publishing an accepted article open access. A subscription journal is paid for by readers, usually through their libraries, and the article sits behind a paywall. When a journal makes every article free to read, that income disappears. The APC is one way to replace it: the cost moves from the reading side to the publishing side, where it is paid by the author, the author's funder, or the author's institution.
Two points catch first-time authors out.
An APC is not the only fee a journal can charge. The Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, issued jointly by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA and the World Association of Medical Editors, name the others: page charges, editorial processing charges, language editing fees, colour charges, submission fees and membership fees. They expect every such fee to be stated clearly on the journal's website, and a journal that charges nothing to say so.
An APC does not buy a decision. The same principles say that author fees and waiver status should not influence editorial decisions, and that journals should state this. If a journal links payment to acceptance, or promises acceptance at all, treat it as one of the red flags of a predatory journal rather than a pricing quirk.
In a hybrid journal, meaning a subscription journal that offers an open option, the APC is optional. You pay it only if you want your article to be free to read, and the journal continues to sell subscriptions.
Where the money goes
Most of what an APC pays for is people's time, and much of that time is spent before your article exists as a published page.
| Stage | Work involved |
|---|---|
| Journal development | Editors, editorial board, scope, policies and recruiting content |
| Screening at submission | Checks on scope, completeness, text similarity, authorship and competing interests; for clinical work, ethics approval, consent and trial registration statements |
| Peer review management | Inviting reviewers, chasing reports, running the submission system and supporting editors' decisions |
| Production | Copyediting, typesetting, reference checks, XML and PDF files, and author proofs |
| Publication and discovery | DOI registration, the hosting platform, and metadata sent to indexes and databases |
| After publication | Corrections, retractions, reader queries and long-term preservation |
| Running the business | Author support, finance, waivers for authors who cannot pay, overheads, and any surplus or profit |
Some of these costs are small per article. Registering a DOI, for instance, carries a per-record fee that is modest next to the cost of an editor's or copyeditor's time. Others are easy to forget. The transparency principles expect a journal to state how its content will stay available if the journal or its publisher stops operating, naming PubMed Central and archives listed in the Keepers Registry as examples. That promise has to be paid for long after your invoice is settled.
You will rarely see this breakdown for a specific journal. The funders behind Plan S asked publishers who receive their money to report prices using a framework that splits each fee across eight service elements, such as journal development, peer review and post-publication services, with any profit or surplus included. The comparison service they built to share that data closed in April 2025 after too few journals took part. The practical lesson for you: if you want to know what a fee covers, you will usually have to ask.
The cost you do not see: papers that are rejected
Picture a hypothetical journal that publishes one in five of the manuscripts it receives. The four it declines still went through screening, and some went through full peer review, with an editor reading the reports and writing a decision. None of those authors pays an APC, because nothing was published. The cost of that work is recovered through the fee on the one paper that is.
This explains two things you will notice when you compare journals.
- Selective journals tend to cost more per article. The more manuscripts a journal handles for each paper it publishes, the more unpaid work each APC has to carry.
- A very low fee paired with very fast acceptance deserves a question. Real screening and review take people's time. If a journal's price and speed leave no room for the process it describes, ask how that process actually runs: who reviews, how many reviewers see each paper, and who makes the final decision.
Why APC pricing varies so much
Two journals in the same field can charge very different fees for work that looks similar from the outside. The main drivers are:
- Selectivity, as above.
- Who does the editorial work. Some journals employ full-time professional editors; others rely on academic editors who are paid a small honorarium or volunteer.
- Ownership and purpose. A society journal may use its income to fund the society's other work. A commercial publisher prices for a return. Some non-profit publishers aim only to cover costs.
- Brand and demand. Established journals that many authors want to publish in can charge more, and still fill their pages.
- Article type. Some journals set different fees for research articles, reviews, case reports or short communications.
- Discounts and agreements. The listed price is not what every author pays, once waivers, society membership discounts and institutional agreements are applied.
What this means for you: a price is not a quality signal. When two journals on your shortlist differ widely in fee, compare what each one states about its review process, licence, preservation and indexing, and check those claims at the source. Our guide to choosing the right journal without getting scammed walks through those checks.
Why some open access journals charge nothing
Journals that charge authors nothing, often called diamond open access journals, still have every cost in the table above. Someone else meets them: a scholarly society, a university or its library, a government body, or a foundation, often alongside editors and reviewers who give their time without pay.
Two practical points follow.
- No APC is not the same as no fees. The Directory of Open Access Journals records, for each journal it lists, whether it charges an APC and whether it charges any other kind of author fee. A journal can have no APC and still charge for submission, pages or colour figures.
- Hold no-fee journals to the same standard. Check the editorial board, the peer review description and the corrections policy exactly as you would for a journal that charges. A free journal that fits your paper is a good outcome; a free journal that no one in your field reads is not.
Who actually pays, and in what order to check
Many authors assume the fee will come out of their own pocket or their grant. That is not always the case. Work through these in order, before you submit.
- Does the journal charge anything? Read its fee information for your article type, including any charges that are not the APC.
- Does your institution have an agreement with the publisher? Many libraries negotiate deals that cover fees for their authors. Eligibility usually attaches to the corresponding author, so who submits can decide whether a fee exists at all.
- How does your funder pay? Rules differ widely. UKRI, for example, says researchers usually cannot claim article publication costs from their own grant. It funds a block grant held by the research organisation instead, which can be spent on hybrid journals only when they fall under an approved agreement your organisation has joined, and it has committed to phase out hybrid funding even within those agreements. Funders in cOAlition S have also long opposed paying for hybrid open access. Check your own funder's current terms.
- Does your institution run a publication fund? Your research office or library will know, and will know what happens when it runs out.
- Is a waiver or discount available? Ask at submission, not when the invoice arrives. Our post on APC waivers and funding language covers how to make that request.
If none of these applies, you still have choices while you can change journal at no cost: a no-fee journal in your field, or a compliant route through repository deposit if your funder accepts one.
Questions to settle before you accept a fee
Run through this list for each journal you are seriously considering, and save a dated copy of the fee page with your manuscript files.
- The fee for your article type, the currency, and whether tax is added
- Every other charge that could apply: submission, page, colour, over-length or language editing
- When the invoice is issued, and whether anything is payable if you withdraw
- Who is eligible for a waiver, which author must qualify, and when and how to apply
- The licence the fee buys, checked against what your funder requires
- A statement that fees and waivers do not influence editorial decisions
- Which co-author is corresponding, if an institutional agreement depends on it
If any item has no written answer, email the editorial office before you submit and keep the reply.
The short version
An APC buys a publishing process: screening, review management, production, discovery and preservation, spread across accepted and rejected papers alike. It does not buy acceptance, and its size tells you more about a journal's costs and market position than about its quality. Settle who pays, and what the fee covers, while the choice of journal is still open.
Directive Publications brings its information on article processing charges, fee waivers, peer review and ethics together on its For Authors page, so you can read the terms before you submit your manuscript.
Frequently asked questions
Why do some open access journals charge no publication fee?
Because someone other than the author covers the costs. Societies, universities, libraries, government bodies and foundations fund many journals, often alongside volunteer editorial work. A journal with no APC can still charge other fees, such as submission or page charges, so check its fee information for every kind of charge before you assume publishing there is free.
Do you pay an APC if your paper is rejected?
An APC is a charge for publishing an accepted article, so a rejected paper should not incur one. Some journals also charge a separate submission or editorial processing fee, which may apply whatever the decision, so read the fee terms before you submit. If a journal asks for its APC before any editorial decision, ask it to explain why in writing.
Can article processing charges be paid from a research grant?
It depends on the funder. Some allow publication costs as a grant expense, while others, such as UKRI, fund a block grant held by your institution and restrict spending on hybrid journals. Check your award terms and ask your research office before you choose a journal, not after acceptance.
Why do APCs differ so much between journals?
Journals have different costs and different pricing goals. A selective journal spreads the cost of handling many rejected manuscripts across fewer published papers, some journals employ professional editors, and some publishers price for profit or brand position while others aim only to cover costs. Fees can also differ by article type within one journal.
Does a higher APC mean a better journal?
No. A higher fee reflects a journal's costs, selectivity, brand and market position, not the quality of the review your paper will receive. Judge a journal by its editorial board, its described peer review process, how openly it states fees and policies, and indexing claims you can confirm at the index itself.