Publication Guide
De Gruyter Brill is the largest specialist humanities and social-sciences (HSS) publisher in Europe. The company was formed in March 2024, when Berlin-based De Gruyter (founded 1749) completed its merger with Leiden-based Brill (founded 1683) - two of the oldest names in academic publishing, with a combined 600 years of history. Together they publish roughly 800 journals and more than 3,500 new books each year, with particular depth in classics, theology and religious studies, linguistics, philosophy, law, history, and Asian studies, alongside respected STEM titles such as Nanophotonics and Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine.
If your research sits in the humanities - especially in a specialized field like ancient Near Eastern studies, New Testament scholarship, or sinology - there is a good chance the field-leading journal is a De Gruyter Brill title. This guide covers the imprints, open-access routes and APCs, peer review norms, and how to submit.
Which De Gruyter Brill journal fits your paper?
De Gruyter Brill's portfolio spans two historic journal families plus a cluster of German-language imprints. Use the guide below to pick a route.
| You're most likely to... | Choose this route |
|---|---|
| Work in classics, Asian studies, religion, or international law | Brill titles - field-defining journals such as Mnemosyne (classics), T'oung Pao (sinology), Novum Testamentum and Numen (religion), and the Brill Nijhoff law portfolio. |
| Work in linguistics, philosophy, or German-language scholarship | De Gruyter titles - Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics, Semiotica, Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, and hundreds of German and English HSS journals. |
| Want a fully open-access STEM venue | De Gruyter Brill's OA STEM titles - Nanophotonics (APC €2,650) is a leading Gold OA photonics journal; around 100 fully-OA journals span STEM and HSS. |
| Want OA without paying an APC | Subscribe-to-Open (S2O) journals - 124 journals publish open access in 2026 with no author-facing fee, funded by library subscriptions. |
| Publish in theology, pedagogy, or practical religious studies in German | Brill Schöningh, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau, V&R unipress - the German-language HSS imprints acquired by Brill before the merger. |
What De Gruyter Brill actually publishes
~800 peer-reviewed journals and one of the world's largest HSS book programs, organized under two main brands and their imprints:
- De Gruyter - the historic Berlin house: linguistics (Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics, Folia Linguistica), semiotics (Semiotica), theology, philosophy, mathematics, and OA STEM titles including Nanophotonics and Open series journals.
- Brill - the Leiden house, publishing continuously since 1683: classics (Mnemosyne, Phronesis), religious studies (Novum Testamentum, Numen, Vigiliae Christianae, Journal for the Study of Judaism), Asian studies (T'oung Pao), and Middle East studies.
- Brill Nijhoff - public international law, human rights, and humanitarian law.
- Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis - German HSS imprints in history, theology, literary studies, and analytical philosophy.
- Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau, V&R unipress - humanities and cultural-studies imprints acquired in 2021-2022.
- Wageningen Academic - animal, veterinary, food, and agriculture research.
Open access at De Gruyter Brill
De Gruyter Brill offers four OA routes:
- Gold OA (fully-OA journals) - around 100 fully open-access journals across STEM and HSS, funded by APCs; default licences are CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND.
- Hybrid OA - most subscription journals offer a per-article OA option at a standard charge of about €2,400 plus VAT.
- Subscribe to Open (S2O) - a distinctive strength: 124 journals publish their 2026 volumes open access with no author fees, funded collectively by continuing library subscriptions. The program has grown every year since 2021.
- Green OA (self-archiving) - accepted manuscripts may be self-archived with a per-title embargo; check the journal's policy page.
Institutional open-access agreements with more than 800 institutions in roughly 30 countries can cover the APC in full or provide discounts - check whether your library participates before paying.
APCs - actual numbers
APCs vary by journal; the figures below are from the publisher's current price information (EUR, before VAT). Always check the journal's own fees page before submission.
| Route | Typical charge | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fully-OA journals | ~€1,000 - €2,650 | Varies by title; many HSS OA titles sit at the lower end |
| Nanophotonics (Gold OA flagship) | €2,650 | Payable in EUR, USD or GBP |
| Hybrid OA (subscription titles) | ~€2,400 | Standard hybrid rate plus VAT where applicable |
| Subscribe-to-Open journals | €0 | 124 journals in 2026 - no author-facing fee |
| Waivers / discounts | On request | Available for authors without funding, including LMIC-based authors |
Peer review process
- Default model: double-anonymized peer review is the norm across the HSS portfolio, in line with humanities practice.
- Field variation: some STEM and medical titles use single-anonymized review; the journal's instructions for authors state the model.
- Turnaround: humanities review cycles are slower than STM norms - two to four months to first decision is common, and longer for specialized fields with small reviewer pools.
How to submit
- Pick the journal. Browse the De Gruyter Brill journal list by subject, or start from the flagship titles above.
- Read the instructions for authors. Every journal has its own guidelines; citation style is typically Chicago (author-date or notes-bibliography) or MHRA in HSS, and Vancouver for medical titles.
- Prepare your manuscript. Use the journal's template on SciSpace to match formatting and reference style.
- Submit via the journal's online system. Most De Gruyter Brill journals use Editorial Manager or ScholarOne - the journal page tells you which; a minority of small HSS titles still take email submissions to the editor.
- Track and revise. Both platforms handle status tracking, reviewer reports, and revision rounds.
Ethics and integrity
De Gruyter Brill is a member of COPE, OASPA, and STM, and follows COPE guidelines for corrections and retractions. Standard policies cover authorship criteria, plagiarism screening, data availability, and competing-interest disclosure; HSS-specific guidance addresses primary-source and archival ethics.
