With Oxford University Press Agreement, Penn Libraries Opens 60% of Penn's Scholarship

The Penn Libraries is pleased to enter a two-year open access agreement with Oxford University Press (OUP), the largest university press in the world.  

The agreement, which runs through 2027, will allow Penn-affiliated authors to publish open access in both OUP’s hybrid and gold (fully open access) journals without paying article processing charges themselves. The Penn community will also continue to be able to access all OUP journals content. 

Through strategic open access agreements with publishers such as OUP, the library system has made it possible for Penn authors to publish 60% of their work through open access models.  

"Open access agreements help Penn authors advance their goals of reaching essential audiences and achieving meaningful impact," said Alexa Pearce, Gershwind & Bennett Family Associate Vice Provost for Collections and Scholarly Communications. "Over the long term, the Libraries' commitment to open access will significantly expand the global reach and visibility of knowledge generated at Penn." 

OUP publishes more than 500 hybrid and fully open access journals, in fields that span humanities, social sciences, law, life sciences, mathematics and physical sciences, and medicine.  

This new agreement is uncapped, meaning there is no limit on the number of eligible articles published by Penn authors each year or over the course of the entire agreement. Articles that are eligible for open access publishing are broadly categorized as those that contain substantive research or review, such as brief reports, case reports, research and review articles. 

Expanding Reach, Increasing Impact 

By promoting open access policies that increase the availability of Penn's academic outputs, the Penn Libraries fuels the University as a powerhouse for translating knowledge into action and solutions.  

Major studies show that open-access publications are cited more often than publications behind a paywall. In addition, citations of open publications reach a wider audience, covering a more comprehensive range of geographic locations, institutions, and disciplines.  

As a result, open access scholarship stimulates new research, which can in turn address real-world challenges through governmental policies, medical breakthroughs, and investment in new technologies. By contributing solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, open access can help rebuild public trust in science and higher education.   

As of 2026, most U.S. federal agencies that fund research require immediate public access to the resulting articles. The Libraries' commitment to open access therefore helps the University comply with these federal mandates, while providing sustainable, cost-effective support for Penn’s publishing activity.   

In addition to the new agreement with OUP, the Penn Libraries recently entered open access agreements with John Benjamins Publishing Company and Association for Computing Machinery and extended an existing agreement with Sage Publishing through 2028. The Libraries also currently holds open access agreements with Cambridge University Press, Company of Biologists, Elsevier, Emerald, Institute of Physics, Royal Society of Chemistry, Springer, and Wiley. 

Details for Penn Authors 

For more information on what the OUP agreement means for Penn researchers, including details about eligible authors and articles, please see our online guide to Open Access Agreements for Penn Authors. Find descriptions of different open access models and additional background on open access publishing in our Open Access Publishing guide. 

The Penn Libraries also offers comprehensive ongoing support for authors who are preparing to publish their research. We provide direct support in developing a better understanding of open access, copyright, citation best practices, Creative Commons licenses, choosing a journal or other publication venue, preprints, publisher contracts, and more. Find publishing resources, contacts, and workshops on our website.