STM Journals publishes under more than one access model. This page explains each model in plain terms, what it means for readers and authors, and what every journal must tell you before you subscribe or submit.

Which model applies to a journal? Each journal states its own model on its journal page, in its author guidelines and in its copyright and licensing statement. The descriptions below apply to a journal only to the extent that they match what that journal actually does.

Model 01 · Subscription

Subscription-based publication

Readers or their institutions pay for access. Authors generally pay no article processing charge (APC) for standard publication.

• Access: full text is available to subscribers and to users with authorised institutional access. A journal may make selected content free to read.

• Subscription terms: institutional and individual rates, licence terms and any post-cancellation access arrangements are published or available on request.

• Copyright and reuse: who holds copyright, and what readers may do with an article, is stated in the journal's copyright and licensing policy.

• Peer review: every manuscript goes through the journal's stated peer-review process, and decisions rest on scholarly quality, originality and integrity.

• Self-archiving (green open access): the journal publishes what version of an article authors may deposit in a repository, and after what embargo, and keeps this policy listed in Sherpa Romeo.

Model 02 · Open access

Open-access publication

Every article is free to read online from the day it is published, with no subscription or paywall. An open-access journal may meet its costs through APCs or other funding that it discloses openly. An APC never influences an editorial decision.

An open-access journal tells you:

• whether an APC applies, how much it is, when it becomes payable, and whether waivers or discounts are available;

• who owns the copyright and which licence applies. The default is a recognised open licence such as Creative Commons CC BY 4.0, shown on every article page and recorded in the PDF and the Crossref DOI metadata;

• what readers may reuse, share or deposit in repositories;

• how peer review and editorial decisions work;

• how the content is preserved over the long term (for example CLOCKSS, LOCKSS, Portico or a national legal-deposit library) and, where relevant, whether the journal is listed in DOAJ.

Model 03 · Hybrid

Hybrid publication

The journal keeps a subscription, and authors may choose to make their own article open access under the journal's published terms.

• The APC, licence, eligibility and the point at which the charge is payable are disclosed. Paying an APC has no effect on peer review or the editorial decision.

• Each article is labelled “Open Access” or “Subscription” on its page and in its metadata.

• The journal explains how subscription prices take open-access content into account, so that institutions are not charged twice.

• A journal calls itself hybrid only while it actually publishes both kinds of article.

Model 04 · Transformative

Transformative agreements

A transformative agreement is an arrangement between a publisher and an institution or consortium that moves spending from subscription access towards open-access publishing. Depending on the agreement, participating institutions get reading access, support for publishing eligible articles open access, or both.

• A journal says it operates under a transformative agreement only when one is in place. Where none exists, this is described only as a general model.

• Where one is in place, the journal publishes the participating institutions or consortia, the eligible article types and licence, and the agreement period, and registers the agreement in the ESAC Transformative Agreement Registry.

Model 05 · Diamond open access

Diamond (platinum) open-access publication

Articles are free to read immediately, and authors pay no APC or submission fee. The costs are met by the publisher, a learned society, an academic institution, a funder or a consortium. A diamond journal names its funding source, confirms that authors pay nothing, states the licence, and describes its peer review and preservation arrangements in the same way as the other models.

What every journal discloses

Whichever model a journal uses, you can expect the same transparency:

• The access model is described in the same words on the journal's website, article pages, author guidelines and policies.

• APCs, applicable taxes, waivers, discounts, refund conditions and the stage at which payment is required are stated clearly.

• Copyright ownership and the licence are shown on each article's HTML page and PDF, and the licence URL is recorded with the article's DOI.

• DOI, ISSN, publication dates, author details and licence information are consistent across the journal website and registration records, including the ISSN Portal and Sherpa Romeo.

• Policies on preprints and author self-archiving are published.

• The preservation arrangement for the full archive is stated, and back issues stay available at stable URLs and DOIs even if the journal changes platform.

• A short “Publishing model and charges” summary appears on the journal home page and in the author guidelines.

• We state indexing only where coverage can be verified in the official database, and we do not offer other metrics as a substitute for the Clarivate Journal Impact Factor or Scopus CiteScore.

A note on indexing

A publishing model describes how a journal is funded and accessed. It is not an indexing status. Indexers such as Scopus and Web of Science do not prefer one commercial model. They look for a journal that states its model accurately, applies its policies consistently, and can show that its published articles match what it says.