OA Week 2025: Read and Publish Agreements
What are Read and Publish agreements?
Sometimes called Transformative Agreements, Read and Publish/Publish and Read deals are contractual agreements between a publisher and a library that allow libraries to support open access publishing. Supporting authors at the library-wide level allows for better pricing on individual article processing charges (APCs). The difference between Read and Publish agreements is the latter are designed to transition a publisher’s currently closed or hybrid journals to completely open journals, while the former maintains parallel tracks of all-open and pay to open journals. For more information about types of open access publishing, you can review Colby Libraries’ Open Education guide.
How do authors get looped into these?
Corresponding authors from Colby are recognised automatically when they submit articles to journals included in the Libraries’ negotiated agreements. Some publishers, like Cambridge University Press, periodically contact corresponding authors of articles that publish behind a paywall if they also have an opportunity to make their articles open access under a Read and Publish deal.
Which publishers have the libraries entered into Read and Publish agreements with?
Colby Libraries has current Read and Publish agreements with the following publishers:
Beginning in January 2026, Colby Libraries will also have active Read and Publish agreements with the following publishers:
- The Company of Biologists
- Five-journal package (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms, Biology Open)
- Oxford University Press
Under these negotiated agreements, Colby authors have access to unlimited open access article publishing, free of charge.
Questions about Read and Publish deals or open access publishing more generally? Email [email protected] or [email protected].