Open access agreements for the United Kingdom

Information for authors

Welcome

Through BMJ’s open access agreement with the JISC consortium, corresponding authors* affiliated with participating universities and research institutions can publish eligible funded** research open access in a range of BMJ journals, with fees fully covered by the agreement.

You will also find information here if your institution has additional open access agreement options with us.

*The corresponding author is the primary contact with BMJ after editorial acceptance.

** Funders: UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Innovate UK, Research England), British Heart Foundation, Blood Cancer UK, Cancer Research UK, Parkinson’s UK, Arthritis UK or the Wellcome Trust.

COMING SOON: Institutions will be added to this page once the 2026 Agreement is finalised.

Useful resources for authors

Download OA at BMJ Author Guide
Download “How to publish your article open access with BMJ” infographic
Download R&P Frequently Asked Questions
Download Eligible Research Article Types
BMJ Author Hub
Where Is My Paper?

What authors need to know

Article type: only original research articles (reporting on primary research) are eligible.

Journal type: your article must be submitted to one of the journals specified in the institutional drop down below.

Author role: you must be the corresponding author* of the article.

Affiliation: you should be a current staff member or student of an eligible institution, at the time your article is accepted for publication.

Manuscript: clearly state your primary affiliation in the published manuscript.

Verification: confirm your eligibility at submission using your Ringgold ID/ institution domain. Learn more about Ringgold IDs and why they are important.

Agreement status: your institution’s OA agreement with BMJ must be active, with sufficient funds, on acceptance of your paper.

Funding: All funded** open access articles will be published allowing reuse under a CC-BY licence. It is important you validate your funder correctly on submission, by selecting from the drop down list, and supplying details of funder name(s) and grant number(s).

Licensing: Some institutions have agreements that allow you to publish research, even if not covered by one of the eligible funders. In this case open access articles will be published allowing reuse under a CC-BY licence; or CC-BY-NC in selected journals*** – unless your funder mandates reuse under the CC-BY licence.

*Acting as the main contact with us after editorial acceptance.

**Funders: UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Innovate UK, Research England), British Heart Foundation, Blood Cancer UK, Cancer Research UK, Parkinson’s UK, Arthritis UK or the Wellcome Trust

*** ADC, BJO, FG, GUT, HEART JMG, JNIS, JNNP, PN, THORAX. Please check with your library with any licence queries