An article processing charge (APC) is a fee a journal asks the author to pay so that a published article is free for everyone to read.
The short version
In subscription publishing, readers (usually via their library) pay. In open access publishing, that revenue has to come from somewhere else. Many open access journals shift it to authors as an APC. Others do not charge at all, because a university, society, ministry or library consortium covers their costs — these are sometimes called diamond or platinum open access journals, and they are what this directory lists.
What APCs typically cost
APCs range from a few hundred to several thousand US dollars per article, with the highest charges concentrated among high-profile journals from large commercial publishers. The fee is normally due on acceptance, not submission.
Paying nothing is not a quality compromise
Charging no APC says nothing about peer review standards. Every journal in this directory operates a documented peer review process, states an editorial policy, and publishes under an open licence. Many no-APC journals are also covered by Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and other selective databases.
What matters is the journal's actual practice. Check the review process, the editorial board, the licence, the archiving arrangements and whether articles get DOIs — all of which are shown on every journal page here.
Watch for charges that are not called an APC
Some journals advertise "no APC" but levy submission fees, page charges, colour figure charges, or English-language editing fees. We record these separately as "other charges" and surface them on every journal page — use the No other fees filter if you need a venue that is genuinely free end to end.
If your target journal does charge
- Check for a waiver. Many journals waive fees for authors from low- and middle-income countries. Journals with a waiver policy are flagged here and filterable.
- Check your institution's agreements. Transformative or read-and-publish deals often cover APCs automatically.
- Check your funder. Many grants include a publication budget.
- Or publish somewhere that does not charge. That is what this site is for.