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CSU and CPP Transformative Agreements

CSU & Oxford - Background Information

Effective February 4, 2025, the University of California (UC), 20 CSU campuses, and 30 academic institutions represented by the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC) have entered into a four-year open access agreement with Oxford University Press (OUP). This agreement is scheduled to end on December 31, 2028.

Authors will be able to publish open access in nearly 500 OUP journals at a reduced cost or at no cost.


To take advantage of the Oxford 2025-2028:

  • Corresponding authors must be affiliated with the CSU; and
  • The article must have an acceptance date between February 4, 2025 and December 31, 2028.

For more information about the agreement, please refer to the CSU press release, UC press release, and SCELC press release.

CSU & Oxford - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The University of California has an FAQ on Agreement Basics, Impact for Authors, and the Article Payment Process.

Are the terms of the Transformative Agreement for the CSUs different from the UCs or SCELC?

The terms for the UCs, CSUs, and SCELC are the same.  The FAQ and Author Guide are from the University of California site but are both still applicable to the CSUs and SCELC members.

Are CSU students eligible to take advantage of this agreement?

Yes, all corresponding authors affiliated with the CSU are eligible, including faculty, students, and staff. When submitting an article, authors are required to use their CSU-affiliated email address and choose to publish their article in an OUP Hybrid or Fully Open Access journal.

Corresponding authors are responsible as the contact during the submission, production, and publication process, and will be identified as the "author for correspondence" on the final published article.  They are given the authority to act on behalf of all co-authors in matters pertaining to publication, including any supplementary material.

When should I submit my publication to have it eligible for this agreement?

All articles containing original research that are accepted for publication from February 4, 2025 through December 31, 2028 are eligible.

Are all types of works eligible for this agreement?

The agreement only covers all articles containing original research.

What's the difference in Article Processing Charges (APCs) for Hybrid and Fully Open Access journals?

Hybrid: Authors who choose an open access license through a hybrid journal will have a $1,000 subsidy covered by this agreement which is applied automatically.  The author must specify if they have funding, such as through a grant, available to pay for the remainder of the APC.  When funding is available, the author provides details on paying the remainder of the APC.  If no grant funding is available, the agreement will cover the full cost.

Fully Open Access:  Authors who choose an open access license through a fully open access journal will have a $750 subsidy covered by this agreement which is applied automatically.  The author must specify payment details to pay the remainder of the APC.

Why is the subsidy for Fully Open Access journals less than the Hybrid option?

The transformative agreement is designed to transition the libraries’ existing journal subscription funds to instead pay to support UC, CSU, and SCELC authors who publish open access.  Current subscription funds are insufficient to cover the full cost of open access publishing for affiliated authors.  The UCs, CSUs, and SCELC have carefully structured the agreement to provide the maximum level of support possible within these constraints.

CSU & Oxford - Instructions for Authors

The University of California has Oxford's Read & Publish Agreement Author Guide as a PDF with step-by-step instructions for authors wishing to publish in Hybrid journals or Fully Open Access journals.

The Read & Publish Agreement Author Guide has the instructions for both types of journals within the same document.

Oxford has more general information regarding their Read and Publish Agreements for authors and institutions, including a short video on the publication process for authors.