The third transformative open access contract of the DEAL consortium has now been concluded with Elsevier. The University of Cologne is joining the contract with retroactive effect from 1 September 2023.

Reading at Elsevier:

For researchers and students at the University of Cologne and scientists at the University Hospital Cologne, this means that reading access to almost the entire journal portfolio, including Cell Press and the Lancet range of titles, is possible from the university network or VPN.

Publishing with Elsevier:

The University of Cologne participates in the DEAL contract with Elsevier and the two brands Cell Press and The Lancet. The contract covers approx. 1,800 subscription journals and 700 pure Open Access journals. To the current list of journals >>

Publications in subscription journals (hybrid journals)

Authors from the University of Cologne/University Hospital Cologne with the status "submitting corresponding author" have been able to publish Open Access in more than 2,500 Elsevier journals ("Core Hybrid"), including the journals of the Cell Press and The Lancet brands ("CP/TL Hybrid") since 1 September 2023.

In 2024, the costs for an open access publication "Core Hybrid" amount to € 2,500.00 net and for "Cell Press" and "The Lancet" € 6,450.00 net.

Publication costs are covered by central funds at the USB. We will ask you for third-party funds to be used in preference before making payment. The costs can be split between central and third-party funds.

Publications in pure Open Access journals (gold journals = fully Open Access)

Authors from the University of Cologne/University Hospital Cologne receive a 20% discount on the list prices of publication fees (= Article Processing Charges, APCs) of the Elsevier Fully Gold Open Access journals (“Core Gold”) and a 15% discount on the list prices of the Fully Gold Cell Press (“Cell Press Gold”) and The Lancet journals (“The Lancet Gold”). The articles will be pre-financed by MPDL Services gGmbH (subsidiary of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science) during the year and then invoiced periodically. For authors affiliated with the clinic/faculty of medicine, a minimum fee of € 600.00 and a maximum fee of € 1,500.00 will be charged. Please inform yourself in good time about the costs incurred. The costs of the other faculties will be covered centrally, whereby third-party funds for (partial) financing will be requested from the USB Cologne.

Licence selection

We recommend the licence "CC BY 4.0" for the licence selection ("Select your user licence").

Special rules for 2023

All authorised publications since 1 September 2023 will be identified retroactively by Elsevier, verified by the institution and can be converted to Open Access retrospectively. The authors will be contacted individually.
No service fee will be necessary for the articles in 2023, from 2024 a service fee of €100.00 net will be due for all articles in the DEAL-Elsevier contract.

Further links:

• DEAL Konsortium
• DFG grant of the University and City Library of Cologne
• Reading at Elsevier: Electronic full-text access via the publisher's website

Please note:

Please do not decide against the Open Access option.