Toronto & London, Apr 04: JMIR Publications, a leading open-access digital health research publisher, and Jisc, the United Kingdom’s not-for-profit organization providing digital services for research and education, are pleased to announce the renewal of their Flat-Fee Unlimited Open Access Publishing Agreement for 2026-2027.
Since its inception in 2022, this agreement has eliminated individual Article Processing Charges (APCs) for researchers at dozens of UK research institutions. The partnership has achieved significant milestones, enabling more than half of all UK research published in JMIR’s high-impact journals to be completely APC-free in 2025. Through this agreement, participating Jisc-member institutions have collectively published more than 700 articles, freeing up vital time and funding for researchers and librarians.
“We highly value our partnership with Jisc and their member institutions,” said Dennis O’Brien, VP Communications and Partnerships at JMIR Publications. “Through this agreement we have pioneered a sustainable funding model for Open Access publishing which is now being replicated across the globe. Forward-thinking librarians, like our UK partners, are important allies in our work to preserve bibliodiversity and a bright future for open science.”
By replacing individual APCs with a single flat fee, the agreement significantly simplifies the publication workflow and increases equity for researchers at all career stages.
Anna Vernon, Head of Research, Licensing at Jisc, added, “We’re pleased to renew the agreement with JMIR Publications for a further year. The partnership supports Jisc’s mission to remove barriers to open publishing for UK researchers, and ensure fair, sustainable access to OA opportunities across our membership.”
Under the renewed agreement, eligible corresponding authors affiliated with participating UK institutions will continue to enjoy unlimited, APC-free publishing across JMIR’s portfolio of over 30 Gold Open Access journals, including the renowned Journal of Medical Internet Research. The agreement covers articles accepted for publication between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027.
