‘Caps’: a maximum for open access articles
The open access agreements with a number of publishers are based on a maximum number of open access articles they cover per year: a so-called ‘cap’. On this page, we explain what this means, how you can avoid them and what options you have once a cap has been reached.
Leiden University has agreements with a number of publishers, that cover read-access to subscription-based journals as well as publication costs for publishing open access. Read access is always covered, but there may be limitations to the number of articles that can be published under the agreement: a so-called 'cap'. Caps always apply per publisher and per calendar year (January-December), and articles are counted towards a cap from the moment of acceptance by a journal.
When a cap has been reached, the article processing charge (APC) for publishing an article open access will no longer be covered by the agreement. If their article gets accepted after a cap for the calendar year has been reached, the corresponding author will be invoiced if they choose to publish in open access. The university and university library do not have budget available to cover these APCs.
Prognosis for 2026
The agreements with the following publishers contain a cap. For 2026 we expect to reach the caps according to this prognosis:
Publisher |
Cap expectation for 2026 |
| Oxford University Press - hybrid journals | reached on 13 September 2026 |
| Springer Nature | reached on 14 October 2026 |
| Emerald | mid October |
| Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) | beginning of November |
| Taylor & Francis | beginning of November |
|
Oxford University Press - selected full open access journals |
mid November |
| American Chemical Society (ACS) | not expected to be reached in 2026 |
| Cambridge University Press | not expected to be reached in 2026 |
| Thieme | not expected to be reached in 2026 |
What are your options after a cap has been reached?
We suggest to check the following options, while keeping in mind the four overarching values of the Leiden University Publication Framework: fit-for-purpose, openness, sustainability and equity. Please also check the open access requirements of your external research funder(s).
If your article is not yet submitted to a journal
Find a journal with no APC
Consider submitting your article to a journal that does not charge APCs (Article Processing Charges), such as Diamond Open Access or Subscribe2Open-journals. You can find these journals via doaj.org and the Leiden Journal Browser.
Find a journal covered in an agreement without a cap
You can find these journals in the Leiden Journal Browser and check per journal title whether a cap is mentioned. Or check the overview of all agreements with publishers, with or without cap.
Publish closed, open the Author Accepted Manuscript via the repository
If the journal permits, you can publish an article behind the paywall (closed) and make the Author Accepted Manuscript open access in Leiden University's repository, Scholarly Publications, by upload to LUCRIS.
Check the journal's policy for embargo period and license options: these are listed in the Leiden Journal Browser under “Green route”. If the journal policy's embargo period exceeds 6 months (not compatible with the Leiden University Open Access Policy) or clashes with the open access requirements of your research funder, you must choose another route.
Publish closed, open the published version through the repository with embargo
You can publish an article behind the paywall (closed) and make the Version of Record of your article open by making use of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act (also called the 'Taverne Amendment') via Leiden University's repository, Scholarly Publications.You do this by uploading the final publishers version of your article to LUCRIS, choosing the “Taverne” license and setting a 6-month embargo.
If the open access requirements of your research funder prohibit an embargo period, you must choose another route.
Post a preprint
Leiden University also encourages researchers to share their research early and openly. You can do this by posting a preprint on a platform suitable to your research area, like arXiv, PsyArXiv, or others listed here.
Publish via the Publish-Review-Curate model
Instead of the closed peer review that precedes publication at most journals, Publish-Review-Curate is a publication model where authors immediately publish their article to undergo open peer review. Only after review, and possible rounds of revisions, curation ensues: indexing in a database, or publication in a journal. There are various PRC platforms: some aim at a specific field of research (SciPost, MetaROR) and others, such as Open Research Europe, that are open to all scientific fields.
If your manuscript has been submitted to, or accepted by a journal
Publish OA, pay APC using funder budget
If you have research funding, you may use this budget to pay the APC. Note that funding from NWO, ZonMW, ERC and many other organisations may only be used for a publication in a full-open access journal (which publishes all content in open access). You can verify whether a journal is full-open access in the Leiden Journal Browser: full-OA journals have an orange OA logo.
Publish closed, open the Author Accepted Manuscript via the repository
If the journal permits, you can publish an article behind the paywall (closed) and make the Author Accepted Manuscript open access in Leiden University's repository, Scholarly Publications, by upload to LUCRIS.
Check the journal's policy for embargo period and license options: these are listed in the Leiden Journal Browser under “Green route”. If the journal policy's embargo period exceeds 6 months (not compatible with the Leiden University Open Access Policy) or clashes with the open access requirements of your research funder, you must choose another route.
Publish OA, pay the APC using institute/department/group budget
If your institute, department or research group has budgets available, you may use this to pay the APC for a publication. Ask your PI or manager, if such budget is available and make sure to secure coverage before accepting a publication agreement and an APC invoice (preferably: before submission to a journal).
Note: there is no central university or library budget to cover APCs.
Publish closed, open the published version through the repository with embargo
You can publish an article behind the paywall (closed) and make the Version of Record of your article open by making use of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act (also called the 'Taverne Amendment') via Leiden University's repository, Scholarly Publications.You do this by uploading the final publishers version of your article to LUCRIS, choosing the 'Taverne' license and setting a 6-month embargo.
When the requirements of your research funder prohibit an embargo period, you must choose another route.
Notification service
If you would like to be informed about the open access agreements which have yearly caps in place, please register for the notification service to receive updates on the agreements per publisher, and their impending caps.
Questions?
For any questions about open access, caps, and alternative publishing options, please check the information about open access on our website or contact the University Library’s open access team via openaccess@library.leidenuniv.nl.