Journal articles

Articles in scientific journals

The Gold Road of Open Access publishing consists in the publication of scientific articles resulting from an SNSF grant in an OA journal. The “Directory of Open Access Journals” ( ) gives an overview of quality-controlled, peer-reviewed OA journals. The SNSF supports researchers in making their articles freely available via the Gold Road. ChronosHub (snsf.chronoshub.io) ensures that Article Processing Charges (APCs) can be settled with ease.

OA publishing along the Green Road consists in the free-of-charge self-archiving (second publication) of scientific articles resulting from an SNSF grant in an institutional or disciplinary repository no later than six months after it is published by a publisher (first publication).

Please note that the SNSF does not fund the “hybrid” publication model because researchers who publish in a subscription journal have to pay an additional APC to release their publication for Open Access. The SNSF does not cover this type of publication cost because access to the scientific results is paid for twice (“double dipping”). However, the SNSF’s Open Access requirement is met by adopting this approach.

Funding requirements

Since February 2024, OA-articles that appear in special issues are no longer funded by the SNSF: The SNSF is no longer funding Open Access articles in special issues (snf.ch)

The article must be freely accessible in a high-level purely open access journal that is peer reviewed.
Financing by the SNSF is only available to SNSF grantees or their project staff and is linked to the original grant.
At least one of these persons must be mentioned as an author in the article.
The funding provided by the SNSF must be mentioned in the article (acknowledgement).

Management of publication charges (APCs)

The SNSF works together with ChronosHub to ensure simple processing of APCs:

APC invoices can be forwarded to snsf.chronoshub.io for payment in a few simple steps.
Already paid APCs can be reimbursed. To this end, you need to send the invoice and proof of payment to ChronosHub.
When publishing in pure OA journals (Gold OA), sometimes the payment of APCs is settled directly between the publisher and ChronosHub, without any invoice being sent to the researchers.
The SNSF does not cover any costs related to publication in hybrid journals.
When publishing in hybrid journals (OA only an option), ChronosHub indicates whether APCs are covered by a national agreement with the researchers’ research institution. If not, the Open Access commitment needs to be met using a different publication method (“Green Road”) or via a different funding source.
If available, snsf.chronoshub.io provides information about embargo periods after which self-archiving (Green Road) is permitted.

Procedure

Researchers can access ChronosHub for their invoices in two ways:
(1) go to snsf.chronoshub.io and select the “Email invoice” option. This opens a configured message, which can be completed as required and transmitted.

(2) Alternatively, researchers can log in to snsf.chronoshub.io and add the relevant information under “upload your invoice.”

In the section “view published articles”, you will find an overview of all publications where the underlying research was funded by the SNSF.

Searches with Journal Finder

Journal Finder is a search engine with filter function. While no database can offer a complete overview of all disciplines, Journal Finder provides information on more than 40,000 journals. Researchers can check whether the chosen journal complies with the SNSF’s Open Access guidelines and how long an embargo period would last. In addition, via Journal Finder and ChronosHub researchers can submit their manuscript directly to the journal of their choice.

Activate your ChronosHub user account

SNSF grantees and persons working in an SNSF-funded project receive an email with a link to activate their ChronosHub account. If you have not received such an email, please contact snsf@chronoshub.io or request access to your account at https://snsf.chronoshub.io/.

chronoshub login

Further information

If the participation requirements are met, the SNSF’s open-access publication funding is awarded independently of any ongoing grants, i.e. it can also be requested after the project has ended.
There is no upper limit for APCs for the time being. Unreasonable APCs may be cut by the SNSF.
There is no cap on the number of articles per project for which APC funding can be requested.

Documents and useful links

Contact

snsf@chronoshub.io

Funding