Agreement between the Federal Science Libraries Network and Elsevier
Elsevier and the Federal Science Libraries Network have established an agreement that provides financial support to affiliated authors who wish to publish open access (OA) in Elsevier journals.
Under the terms of this agreement:
When publishing OA in selected hybrid journals, eligible corresponding authors from participating institutions will not have to pay an article publishing charge (APC).
Eligible corresponding authors publishing in selected fully OA journals will receive a discount on the APC.
When does the agreement apply?
Articles must have an original acceptance date between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2026.
How does the process work?
Step 1: Select a journal that is eligible under the terms of this agreement. Follow the guidance in the Journals section below to find out which titles are included.
Step 2: Submit your article via your chosen journal’s submission system. When asked to enter your email address, please ensure you use your institutional email address – this is how we validate your eligibility for this agreement.
Step 3: The submission system presents you with personalized publishing options, including any relevant agreements or offers. If you are submitting to a hybrid journal, you will be asked to choose whether you wish to publish open access – don’t worry if you are unsure at this stage, because we will ask you this question again post-acceptance.
Step 4: If the journal accepts your article, you receive an email containing a clickable link to the “post acceptance author journey”. During this journey, we ask you to review and confirm your affiliation and funder details. This information is used by the system to determine which personalized publishing options to show you, including the option to publish under this agreement.
Step 5: Confirm your publishing choices, including your desire to publish open access, and complete the post acceptance journey.
Step 6: Your institution validates your eligibility for the agreement. Please note: The final decision on your eligibility lies with the person at your institution responsible for managing and administering this agreement.
Step 7: You and your co-authors receive an email to confirm that the APC will be applied.
We take a closer look at these steps in this short video, which describes the process for hybrid journals.
Which institutions are covered by this agreement?
This agreement supports corresponding authors affiliated with the Federal Science Libraries Network agencies.
Participating institutions:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Health Canada
National Research Council Canada
Natural Resources Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada
Which journals are included in this agreement?
Authors can publish eligible articles (see FAQ at the bottom of this page) in a wide variety of participating Elsevier journals across a range of disciplines. The link below takes you to a list of Elsevier eligible hybrid journals for which the APC is covered under the terms of this agreement.
The APC is included for articles published in selected fully OA journals. To find a fully OA journal, please use our Journal Finder Tool.
What are the author benefits of publishing open access with Elsevier?
There are lots of good reasons to publish open access; for example, the fact that OA articles are openly and widely available means it’s easy for others to find and build upon them, helping to accelerate discovery. In addition, publishing OA is a growing funder requirement. But with predatory journals on the rise, it’s important to ensure that the journal you publish in is reputable and trusted. When you publish open access with Elsevier, you benefit from:
A proven reputation: We have over 140 years of experience curating and verifying scientific knowledge.
Visibility: Your published article is included in the world’s biggest publishing platform, ScienceDirect, which has 20 million monthly unique visitors. In addition, your article is indexed and shared as widely as possible.
Choice: Our hybrid journals and fully OA journals span every scientific discipline and every tier of impact.
Expert support:You receive advice and support from experienced professionals at each stage of the publication process from submission through to peer review and post-acceptance.
To learn more about the benefits of publishing open access with Elsevier visit our Open Access Author Hub.
Eligibility FAQs
For the purpose of eligibility under the agreement, there can only be one corresponding author. The corresponding author is the author who submits the manuscript and other documentation to the journal and is the primary contact between the journal and the co-authors. Importantly, the corresponding author’s affiliation will be used to determine eligibility for the publishing agreement. The affiliations of other co-authors are not relevant for agreement eligibility.
The corresponding author’s responsibilities include:
Ensuring that all authors have complied with the journal’s policies, including reviewing and approving the final version of the manuscript prior to submission.
Distributing and responding to communications from the journal (e.g., decision letters, reviewers’ reports).
Completing the post publication author journey including signing the Journal Publishing License Agreement, Rights and Access information form, and selection of open access options on behalf of, and with the agreement of, all co-authors of the paper.
Journals may follow requests of the team of authors and display other corresponding authors in the published article. Which corresponding authors are displayed on the published paper, however, is not relevant for agreement eligibility.
With this agreement, authors have a choice between a commercial (CC BY) or non-commercial (CC BY-NC-NC) license. The license choice is dependent on the journal selected. Please refer to the journal’s homepage for specific details. The FSLN Consortium recommend using the CC-BY license for scientific publications. CC-BY is the most liberal type of license, allowing the widest possible reuse of your work and ensuring that you are credited as the author of the original.
The following article types are covered by this agreement:
Case reports
Data in Brief articles
Full-length articles
Micro-articles
Original software publications
Practice guidelines
Protocols
Registered report articles
Registered report protocols
Replication studies
Review articles
Short communications
Short surveys
Video articles
Yes, being affiliated with a participating institution doesn’t always guarantee that your article will be matched to an agreement. Eligibility depends on several factors, including
The journal type (e.g., whether it’s hybrid or fully open access).
Whether the journal you have submitted to participates in the agreement.
The acceptance date of your article relative to the agreement’s active period.
The article type.
Authors can continue to choose to publish under the subscription model, which includes the option to self-archive your manuscript in line with Elsevier’s sharing policy.