Eligible University of Pittsburgh and UPMC authors can now publish in most Sage hybrid and gold open access journals without article processing charges (APCs) through a new agreement by the NorthEast Research Libraries (NERL) Consortium.
Please note that other publishing fees (such as page, figure, or submission charges) are not covered by this agreement. Authors are responsible for reviewing individual journal submission guidelines and paying any other applicable fees.
The agreement runs from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2028. Eligibility is based on the article’s acceptance date. Articles accepted before January 1, 2026, cannot be converted to open access retroactively, and previous APC payments cannot be reimbursed.
There is no annual cap on the number of articles covered. To qualify, the corresponding author must be a currently enrolled Pitt or UPMC student or a current Pitt or UPMC employee at the time the article is accepted.
View the lists of eligible journals. Examples of Q1 journals* covered under this agreement include:
- Clinical Rehabilitation
- Epilepsy Currents
- Journal of Dental Research
- Journal of Family Nursing
- Journal of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery
- Journal of Psychopharmacology
- Palliative Medicine
- Peritoneal Dialysis International
- SAGE Open Nursing
- Science Communication
- Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders
- Therapeutic Advances in Urology
* Journal Impact Factor (JIF) Quartile: A journal’s quartile ranking is determined by comparing a journal to others in its Journal Citation Reports category based on Impact Factor score. If a journal falls in Q1, it means that the journal performs better than at least 75% of journals in that category, based on its Impact Factor score.
For more information on Sage’s agreement or about other OA agreements, please see the Open Access Publishing Agreements page or contact us at ULS-PublishingOpenAccess@pitt.edu.
~Melissa Ratajeski