MNRAS now fully open access

The entire Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) journal portfolio is now fully open access (OA). The RAS aims for its highly influential journals to support the discovery and advancement of ground-breaking research in the fields of astronomy & astrophysics, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science, championing the values of transparency, inclusivity, and worldwide accessibility to the research it publishes.

All articles published within our journals will be immediately accessible without restriction, maximizing the impact of the high-quality research we publish. Articles will carry an APC and full information about funding opportunities can be found below in the Funding Section.

This page will be regularly updated with new information about the move to OA. Make sure to bookmark it to keep up-to-date with the most recent developments. If you have any questions which are not addressed in the FAQs below do not hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected]

FAQs

Why are we moving to open access?

What does it mean to publish open access?

Why are the RAS journals moving to open access?

What does it mean for the RAS journal portfolio to be open access?

Will the content and focus of the journals change in any way? 

Why is this change taking place now?

What are the benefits of publishing my research open access?

Why should I publish in the journals as opposed to sharing my work for free?

The Details...

What copyright will apply to my paper under open access?

What will happen to past content published in the journals?

When will these changes take place?

At what point will I be expected to sign an open access licence if my paper is accepted?

If I have submitted my paper before 1 October 2023, but it will go into the 2024 volume, will I need to pay for OA?

Are there any other charges associated with publishing in the journals, other than the APC?

Funding

How will 2024 charges compare to historical charges?

Where can I access funds to cover the APC if I do not have access through my research grant?

My institution is currently part of a hybrid only Read and Publish agreement. Can I still access funds through the agreement when the Journal moves to be fully OA?

How can I request a waiver if I do not have access to funding through my research grant or a Read and Publish deal?

Will Fellows receive a discount to the APC?

Which author is eligible for Read and Publish funding?

More Information

Open Access policy information

How can I find the resources mentioned in these FAQs?

Who do I contact if I have additional questions about the journals transition to open access?

Why are we moving to open access?

• What does it mean to publish open access?
  Articles published under an OA licence are made freely available online immediately upon publication. OA ensures no barriers to access, facilitating openness, transparency, dissemination, and reproducibility of impactful academic research.
  
  More information can be found on the Oxford University Press OA information page.
   

• Why are the RAS journals moving to open access?
  With this significant step in the RAS publishing portfolio’s journey, the RAS is taking active strides to reduce barriers to science, and facilitate transparency, inclusivity, and accessibility of its high-quality research output to the advancement of science, and the community it supports.
  
  In becoming an OA portfolio, the journals will be fully compliant with key global funders and policy makers such UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and more recently The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) who are increasing the requirements for funded researchers with regards to OA and data availability.
   

• What does it mean for the RAS journal portfolio to be open access?
  All articles in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters (MNRASL), and Geophysical Journal International (GJI) – archive, current, and future - will be immediately open for anyone to freely read upon publication.
  
  The journals will no longer have subscription charges, instead being supported by article processing charges (APCs).
  
  The journals will continue to maintain the rigorous editorial standards, scope, and excellent editorial support to ensure high-quality research output. With this change the RAS community will benefit from increased reach, accessibility, and impact of the high-quality scientific research published by MNRAS, MNRAS Letters, and GJI.
  
  All articles published under a standard licence prior to January 2024 will maintain the licence type signed by the author but will be made free to view.
  
  Please note that our newest journal, RAS Techniques and Instruments is already fully open access.
   

• Will the content and focus of the journals change in any way?
  The journals’ content and focus will remain unchanged, as will the high editorial standards associated with the portfolio.
   

• Why is this change taking place now?
  The scientific publishing landscape has been changing for many years in response to the policy expectations of funders, institutions and governments. The move to OA is happening now because the RAS sees clearly a future where there is unrestricted readership of its journal content. 
  
  The scientific community works ever harder to ensure barriers to cutting edge science are eliminated. In facilitating openness, dissemination, and reproducibility of impactful academic research, the RAS is excited to be a key contributor to the open science movement helping to drive discoverability and change.
  
  Astronomy and geophysics research has vast applications and publishing OA ensures that we all gain the maximum impact of ground-breaking work by researchers from all over the world.
   

• What are the benefits of publishing my research open access?
  OA publishing provides great benefits for authors and the scientific community. It enables increased reach and visibility of your work, enabling research to be accessed globally without restriction.
  
  The choice of Creative Commons license types maximises discoverability of your work through a clear framework for reuse, allowing others to read, reuse, and build upon your published research, driving forward the field.
  
  It also supports you to see the societal impact of your work, something which is becoming ever-more important. OA publication encourages policymakers, non-government agencies, the media, educators, and practitioners to put your research into action.
   

• Why should I publish in the journals as opposed to sharing my work for free?
  Repositories such as arXiv provide a place for authors to share early versions of their research which have many benefits in terms of fast sharing and availability of new research. However, publishing articles in high-quality, peer reviewed journals such as MNRAS, MNRASL, GJI and RASTI adds value through the high-quality peer review process and the creation and maintenance of the version of record. Publishing in journals increases discoverability through search engine optimisation, technology through reference linking and offers reputational value for you, the author, via publishing in a trusted and established brand.
   

The details...

• What copyright will apply to my paper under open access?
  Authors retain copyright of their articles.
  
  Articles in the journals will be published under a non-exclusive Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original is properly cited. More information about licences can be found here .
   

• What will happen to past content published in the journals?
  From 01 January 2024 all RAS journal articles published since 1827 will be immediately open for anyone to freely read upon publication. Articles published under a standard licence prior to January 2024 will maintain the licence type signed by the author but will be made free to view.
   

• When will these changes take place?
  The RAS journals portfolio will be fully OA from the first volume of 2024 (January 2024 cover date).
   

• At what point will I be expected to sign an open access licence if my paper is accepted?
  From the 01 October 2023 any authors submitting their paper to MNRAS, MNRASL, and GJI will be required to sign a non-exclusive CC-BY licence for their paper if accepted for publication. This will ensure that the journals are fully OA from the first volume of 2024.

• If I have submitted my paper before 1 October 2023, but it will go into the 2024 volume, will I need to pay for OA?
  Articles which have originally been submitted (and then subsequently accepted) prior to 01 October 2023, but which will publish after 31 December 2023 will be required to publish under non-exclusive CC-BY licence. The APC will be waived for these articles.  

• Are there any other charges associated with publishing in the journals, other than the APC?
  No other form of charges will be required to publish in the journals. As of 01 January 2023 long page charges have been removed for MNRAS, and from 01 January 2024 colour charges for GJI articles will no longer apply.
   

Funding

• How will 2024 charges compare to historical charges?
  No change will be made to the main Journal paper APC charge with the move to OA. Letters will have a new, lower APC.

  	Licenses Offered
  Journal	CC BY	APC Currency	APC Standard Rate	APC RAS Fellows Rate
  Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters	x	GBP	1,100	880
  Monthly Notice of the Royal Astronomical Society	x	GBP	2,310	1,847

  
   

• Where can I access funds to cover the APC if I do not have access through my research grant?
  We endeavour to ensure that authors can publish on the merit of their science and strive to make OA equitable and sustainable to researchers. Oxford University Press has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions (universities and research establishments) and consortia around the world that provide funding for OA publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish OA, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating here.

  Generous waiver provisions will also be in place. See more information below.
   

• My institution is currently part of a hybrid only Read and Publish agreement. Can I still access funds through the agreement when the Journal moves to be fully OA?
  If the Journal moved to fully OA during the term of your institution’s hybrid-only agreement, then it remains in that agreement until the end of the term so you will still be able to access funds. At the end of your institution’s agreement term a new deal will be established.
   

• How can I request a waiver if I do not have access to funding through my research grant or a Read and Publish deal?
  We offer two routes to access waivers.

1. We have a developing country initiative whereby corresponding authors from countries listed here, are eligible for a full article processing charges (APC) waiver which will be automatically applied on your behalf.

2. A generous waiver provision will be in place from 2024 to support authors who do not qualify for our developing countries initiative but would still like to request a waiver. You will be asked to contact our publisher’s Open Access team at [email protected] to request a partial or full waiver at submission stage where you will then be asked to complete a short waiver form to support your request. Each waiver request will be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account your circumstances (e.g. hardship, funder cap). Please note, waiver applications will be assessed entirely independent of the peer review process and the Editorial Board is not involved in the evaluation of waiver requests.
    

• Will Fellows receive a discount to the APC?
  Fellows of the RAS will receive a 20% discount to the APC.
   

• Which author is eligible for Read and Publish funding?
  The corresponding author. To be eligible for one of OUP’s Read and Publish agreements, the corresponding author must provide their qualifying institution as their primary affiliation when they submit their manuscript. After submission, changing who is designated as the corresponding author will be permitted only where there is a substantive reason to do so. For the avoidance of doubt, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible.

More information

• Open Access policy information
  Please visit the UK Research and Innovation Open Access guidance page for further information.
   

• How can I find the resources mentioned in these FAQs?
  Please visit the RAS Fellows Membership page for further information.
   

• Who do I contact if I have additional questions about the journals transition to open access?
  Please contact the RAS Editorial Office at [email protected] if you have any questions.