As allowed in the subscription / licensing agreement, ACS announced it is ending the automatic "Open Access" fee coverage for CSU and UC libraries as of 6/30/2025. This agreement automatically covered the "Article Processing Charge" (APC) to make an article "Open Access" to the world the the corresponding authors was from the CSU, UC, or a private California library.
After July 1, 2025, APCs will not be no longer be automatically covered. Instead, discounted APCs (limited to a maximum of $3000) will remain in effect until December 30, 2025.
The California State University (CSU) Transformative Agreement agreement with the American Chemical Society (ACS) allows CSU affiliated authors to publish their article as Open Access at reduced or no cost. The current four-year agreement ends on December 31, 2025.
The Publishing Open Access with ACS Publications Agreement contains step-by-step instructions on submitting a manuscript to an eligible ACS journal.
The table below from the ACS Information Page shows the ACS journals where article publishing charges (APC) should be covered. Unless otherwise stated, this agreement covers 100% of the APC.
| Journal / Collection | Included in Agreement? | |
|---|---|---|
 |
ACS Central Science | Diamond open access: Free to publish and read |
 |
ACS Omega |  APC may be covered, or a discounted rate may be available |
 |
ACS Au family (including JACS Au) | APC may be covered, or a discounted rate may be available |
      |
Artificial Photosynthesis Chem & Bio Engineering Chemical & Biomedical Imaging Environment & Health Polymer Science & Technology Precision Chemistry |
Waivers available: see individual journals for information |
| ACS hybrid / transformative journals | APC may be covered, or a discounted rate may be available |
|