Open Access

CSU-Elsevier Agreement Details

After an initial two-year pilot, the California State University (CSU) system has signed a three-year gold open access agreement with Elsevier that enables corresponding authors affiliated with the CSU to publish open access in eligible Elsevier journals at no cost to authors. 

For more information about this agreement, please see the CSU Libraries Network Announcement and Elsevier Agreement Page.

Eligibility Criteria

To take advantage of this agreement:

• Corresponding authors must be affiliated with the CSU; and
• Manuscripts accepted in eligible Elsevier journals between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024.

Instructions for CSU-Affiliated Corresponding Authors

Submitting Your Manuscript

Step 1: Use Elsevier’s journal search tool to ensure your desired journal is eligible under the agreement. 

Step 2: Submit your manuscript to an eligible journal.

Publishing Your Accepted Manuscript Open Access

Elsevier has provided a video of the author journey process. Login to CSU ScholarWorks is required to access the video.

Step 1: When you receive an email confirmation that your manuscript has been accepted for publication, click the link for your publication agreement and log in to Elsevier’s platform.

Step 2: This will bring you to a “Finalize Publishing your Article” page. Click the “Publishing Agreement” button at the bottom of the page.

Step 3: As the corresponding author, confirm your CSU affiliation.

• Enter the primary CSU institution with which you are affiliated, and then click the “Save and Continue” button.
• Note: If your corresponding department appears in the list of options, you can select that; otherwise, the overall institution is sufficient.

Step 4: Add co-author information.

• If you have co-authors, add their names and affiliations before clicking the “Save and Continue” button.
• If you do not have co-authors, select “No,” and then click the “Save and Continue” button.

Step 5: Add research funder information.

• If you received research funding, select “Yes” and add the requested information before clicking the “Save and Continue” button.
• If you did not receive research funding, select “No,” and then click the “Save and Continue” button.

Step 6: Choose your publishing option.

• Select “Publish Open Access” to publish your article open access at no cost to you provided that you are affiliated with the CSU. Then click the “Save and Continue” button. 
• Note: The CSU’s agreement with Elsevier will cover the associated article publishing charge (APC) for all corresponding authors affiliated with the CSU.

Step 7: Select your user license. 

• If you opted to publish your article open access, you will then be prompted to choose a CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Once you make your selection, click the “Save and Continue” button.

Step 8: Select your status.

• Indicate whether you are the sole author, one author signing on behalf of all authors, or signing as an authorized representative and on behalf of your employer. Then click the “Save and Continue” button.

Step 9: Read and agree to the terms of the license agreement. 

• Carefully review the terms of the license agreement, and check the box at the bottom of the page to indicate your agreement. Then click the “Accept Agreement” button.

Step 10: Review the information you submitted.

• Verify that the information you submitted is correct, and then click the “Finish” button.

Next Steps

Step 1: Once you complete the above steps, you and your co-authors will receive a confirmation email.

Step 2: Your article will be published open access within 24 hours.

• If you selected the “Publish Open Access” option for your article, it will be made open access on Elsevier’s ScienceDirect platform within 24 hours of completing the above steps. 

Step 3: CSU librarians will verify your affiliation and approve your request.

• Your request to publish your article open access under the CSU’s agreement with Elsevier will be sent to CSU librarians, who will verify your affiliation with the CSU and approve your request. You will receive a confirmation email once this process is complete.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Are CSU students eligible to take advantage of this agreement? 

Yes, all corresponding authors affiliated with the CSU are eligible, including faculty, students, staff, etc.

Credits: With thanks to Lana Wood at CSU East Bay for allowing reuse of most of this page's content.