Open Access: simple and efficient publishing with ChronosHub

Research findings funded with public money belong to the public. For this reason, the SNSF asks researchers to publish the results of SNSF-funded projects in an open-access (OA) format. It pays the fees
for articles that are published in OA-only journals.

Direct payment

In order to make the settlement of publication fees, the so-called APCs, even easier, the SNSF is entering into a pilot partnership with the service provider ChronosHub. From now on, researchers can publish their articles using its platform. In the case of an OA-only journal, payment of the fees is arranged directly without the researchers having to submit an application to the SNSF. 

As before, no costs are covered for hybrid journals that contain both freely accessible articles and articles that are subject to a charge. For
researchers publishing in such journals, ChronosHub indicates whether the fees are covered by a national agreement with the research institutions. 

"Thanks to access to ChronosHub, we are taking an important step on the road to 100% Open Access," says Matthias Egger, President of the SNSF National Research Council. "This will further reduce the effort involved for researchers."

Journal Finder

In addition, ChronosHub offers researchers a search engine, the "Journal Finder". With a single login, they have access to more than 40,000 journals. They can see whether the journal they are interested in meets the SNSF's Open Access requirements and can submit their manuscript directly. "Of course, the search engine does not contain all the journals that exist," says Claudia Lautenschütz, who is responsible for the pilot project at the SNSF. "But it makes it easier
for researchers to get an overview in many disciplines." 

Also an advantage: articles published via ChronosHub are archived on the platform and can be reused for reporting, e.g. to the SNSF.

Ready, steady, Open Access!

Researchers funded by the SNSF will shortly receive their access data for ChronosHub. "We encourage everyone to use the platform and give us feedback on the services. This will help us to evaluate the pilot project," says Claudia Lautenschütz. Further information on ChronosHub can be found on the SNSF's Open Access page.