Free to read, free to share — advancing knowledge without barriers
All journals published by ACS Publisher are fully open access. Every article is freely available online immediately upon publication — no subscription, no paywall, no embargo period. Readers anywhere in the world can read, download, and share articles at no cost.
Open access articles receive significantly more citations than subscription-only articles due to wider readership and discoverability.
Research is accessible to readers in developing countries, independent researchers, and the general public — not just subscribed institutions.
Articles are available online from day one of publication with no embargo period.
Every article has a CrossRef DOI — a permanent, citable link that works for the lifetime of the scholarly record.
Authors retain copyright to their work and grant journals a licence to publish. You can share your article freely.
COUNTER-compliant download statistics are publicly available for all journals, demonstrating real-world research impact.
Articles published in ACS Publisher journals are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) or Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) licence, depending on the journal. These licences allow:
Others may copy, distribute, display, and adapt the work for any purpose (including commercial) provided appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source.
Others may copy, distribute, and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided appropriate credit is given. Commercial use requires additional permission.
To sustain open access publishing and cover editorial, typesetting, DOI assignment, and hosting costs, ACS Publisher may charge Article Processing Charges (APCs) upon acceptance of a manuscript. APCs vary by journal.
Authors publishing in ACS Publisher journals:
Authors are encouraged to deposit their published articles in institutional repositories, disciplinary repositories (such as PubMed Central or arXiv), or their personal/institutional websites. The published PDF version (Version of Record) may be deposited immediately with attribution to ACS Publisher and a link to the original DOI.
All ACS Publisher journals are listed with major open-access discovery services and databases including:
For questions about our open access policy, licensing, or APCs:
Submit your manuscript today and reach readers across the globe — free to read, forever.