Researchers: Submit to Wiley gold open-access journals by August 31
UW–Madison authors who want to avoid publishing fees in nearly 600 Wiley journals must submit their articles for publication by Monday, August 31, 2026.
Any submissions to this subset of Wiley journals, known as “fully open” or “gold open,” after that date will incur article processing charges (APCs). Authors must pay APCs through independent or external funding or submit to a different journal.
The deadline is one of several changes to UW–Madison Libraries’ prior deal (and that of other institutions in the Big Ten) with the academic publisher. The new deal was secured in April 2026 after extended negotiations between the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) and the Wiley publishing company.
Under the new deal, UW–Madison authors may continue to publish their research articles in Wiley’s hybrid open access journals (“Online Open” or “Offers Open Access”) at no cost to the author at least through the end of December 2027. The details of this change were communicated to the UW research community in early May 2026.
The recent changes to our publishing agreement reflect broader developments in the scholarly publishing landscape. Evolving funder requirements for immediate public access to research are prompting publishers to reconsider their approaches to open access. In September 2023, for instance, the American Chemical Society (ACS) pressed for more institution-level publishing agreements and instituted a new fee for authors from institutions without agreements to retain the rights needed to comply with funder requirements. Others, such as Elsevier and Springer Nature, have limited their institutional publishing agreements to certain journals, with the expectation that authors will individually pay to publish in the others.
As funder policies and publisher reactions continue to evolve, the Libraries’ staff will continue to monitor changes and provide support to the university’s researchers. Visit our website to learn about existing support for open-access publishing, or contact Carrie Nelson with questions.