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Announcement | TÜBİTAK – The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Open Access Article Publication Agreement

Dear İstinye Family,

As part of the EKUAL Project conducted by TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM, access to electronic journals published by The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) will be provided as of January 1, 2026. As of 2026, both access to content and open access (OA) article publishing (Read & Publish) model will be supported with APC funding for a certain number of articles. 

As there is a quota for a certain number of OA articles under the “TÜBİTAK - RSC Read & Publish Agreement,” TÜBİTAK has set certain criteria for articles that will receive APC support.

TÜBİTAK-RSC OA Article Support Criteria:

  1. The 2026 TÜBİTAK-RSC Open Access Article Account will become active as of the date of completion of activation by member institutions. As long as the agreement is active, OA applications can be made for articles accepted in Hybrid and Gold journals. Articles accepted before January 1, 2026, will not be considered under the agreement. Articles accepted for publication between January 1, 2026, and the date the agreement is signed may be requested to be converted to Open Access Articles retroactively.
  2. During the 2026-2028 period, the AE article quotas for fully open access/gold journals and hybrid journals will be as follows on an annual basis:
  3. To benefit from the agreement, the “Corresponding Author” must be an active faculty member at a university.
  4. If an article is accepted by a journal and RSC's licensing system determines that the article is suitable for open access publication, the process will be carried out according to the “first come, first served” principle.
  5. When an article is accepted, an AE article application can only be made if the agreement is active; if the agreement is not active, it is not possible to apply for AE.
  6. Regardless of whether the agreement is active or not, when an article is accepted, if the quota is not available, the APC fee will be the author's responsibility.
  7. Regardless of whether the journal is Hybrid or Gold model; when an article is accepted, if the agreement is active and the quota is available, the APC fee for the relevant article can be covered under the agreement. For Gold journals that apply APC, the author can submit their article; however, APC support will only be provided if the agreement is in force and the quota is available at the time of acceptance.
  8. If the opportunity to benefit from the agreement has expired when an article is accepted in a Hybrid journal, the author has the option to publish their article for free, but it will be closed access. If it is a Gold journal, there is an obligation to pay APC.
  9. According to the RSC journal/author system, each year's quota is processed independently, and an accepted article cannot benefit from the quota of the previous or following year.
  10. According to the terms of the agreement, AE article quotas are not allocated to institutions.
  11. Whether the article falls under the EKUAL agreement can only be determined by the Author's institutional email address. Therefore, if the Author wishes to publish their article as AE, they must use the institutional email address of the EKUAL member institution they are affiliated with on the article submission form.
  12. Before submitting an article to a journal, it is recommended that the Author check whether the journal is a Hybrid journal or a Gold journal and review the steps outlined in the “RSC Author Workflow” document.
  13. If it is determined that any author whose name appears among those prohibited by TÜBİTAK AYEK Decisions or whose “authority to practice their profession has been revoked or temporarily suspended” by the Ministry of Health has received APC support from TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM during the prohibited period, or if an article that received APC support is found to have been retracted (retraction), the responsible author or co-authors must notify ukg@ulakbim.gov.tr and pay the APC fee reported by ULAKBİM to ULAKBİM. Otherwise, ULAKBİM reserves the right to collect the APC fee from the “corresponding author/responsible author.”

2026: Gold + Hybrid/255

2027: Gold + Hybrid/260

2028: Gold + Hybrid/260

For more information: 

https://www.rsc.org/publishing/open-access/open-access-agreements

https://cabim.ulakbim.gov.tr/ekual/e-veri-tabanlari/universiteler/

For your questions, requests and suggestions, you can contact us via kutuphane@istinye.edu.tr e-mail address.