Publication Guide
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the largest university press in the world and a department of the University of Oxford, governed by academic Delegates appointed by the vice-chancellor. Printing in Oxford dates back to 1478; the Press was formally established by decree in 1586. Its academic journals program - hosted on Oxford Academic (academic.oup.com) - now spans 500+ peer-reviewed journals, a large share of them owned by learned societies that partner with OUP for publishing. That society-partnership model is OUP's defining feature: titles like Nucleic Acids Research, Brain, European Heart Journal (European Society of Cardiology), and Clinical Infectious Diseases (IDSA) combine society editorial governance with OUP's production, distribution, and open-access infrastructure.
This guide covers what you need to know to submit successfully: how to pick the right OUP journal, open-access routes and APCs, the peer-review workflow, and submission systems.
Which Oxford University Press journal fits your paper?
OUP's portfolio serves very different kinds of papers - from fully open-access life-sciences flagships to subscription law reviews. Use the guide below to choose the right route for your manuscript.
| You're most likely to... | Choose this route |
|---|---|
| Work in molecular biology, genomics, or computational biology | Fully-OA science flagships - Nucleic Acids Research, Bioinformatics, GigaScience. Gold OA by default; APC around $3,625 with society-member and LMIC discounts. |
| Have clinical or biomedical research | Society medical journals - European Heart Journal, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Brain, Human Molecular Genetics. Mostly hybrid: free to publish under a standard licence, with an Oxford Open OA option. |
| Work in evolution, ecology, or organismal biology | Society life-science titles - Molecular Biology and Evolution, Systematic Biology. Strong impact metrics; check each title's OA model. |
| Work in humanities, law, or social sciences | OUP HSS journals - hundreds of titles across law (OSCOLA style), history, philosophy, economics, and linguistics; predominantly subscription/hybrid with Green OA permitted. |
| Need Gold OA but have a limited budget | Smaller fully-OA titles from roughly $1,500, plus Read & Publish coverage if your institution has an OUP agreement. |
What Oxford University Press actually publishes
500+ peer-reviewed journals across all major disciplines:
- Medicine and health - the largest cluster, including European Heart Journal, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Brain, and many specialty society journals.
- Life sciences - Nucleic Acids Research, Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Human Molecular Genetics, Systematic Biology.
- Humanities and social sciences - history, philosophy, literature, linguistics, economics, and political science journals, many of them long-running society titles.
- Law - a leading law-journal list using OSCOLA citation style.
Beyond journals, OUP publishes monographs and reference works under the OUP Academic and Clarendon Press imprints (Clarendon is reserved for Oxford publications of particular academic importance) - but this guide focuses on the journals program.
Open access at Oxford University Press
OUP offers four OA routes:
- Gold OA (fully-OA journals) - roughly 100+ fully open-access titles. Nucleic Acids Research has been fully OA since 2005 - one of the earliest major journals to flip - and Bioinformatics is now fully OA as well. Default licences are CC BY or CC BY-NC depending on the journal and funder requirements.
- Hybrid OA (Oxford Open) - most subscription journals offer a per-article OA option. There is no charge to publish under the standard licence; the APC applies only if you choose OA.
- Green OA (self-archiving) - permitted across the portfolio, with per-title embargo periods for the accepted manuscript.
- Read & Publish (transformative agreements) - OUP has agreements with institutions and consortia in many countries; eligible corresponding authors publish OA with no direct APC. Note that cOAlition S ended the Plan S Transformative Journal framework at the end of 2024, so coverage now runs mainly through these institutional agreements - check the ESAC registry or your library.
APCs - actual numbers
Figures below are indicative 2026 list prices (USD, before tax). OUP revises prices annually and offers society-member discounts (often 20%) and LMIC discounts, so always check the journal's own charges page before submission.
| Title tier | APC (approx.) | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Fully-OA science flagships | ~$3,625 | Nucleic Acids Research, Bioinformatics |
| Hybrid (Oxford Open) on society flagships | ~4,500 | European Heart Journal, Brain, Clinical Infectious Diseases - per-journal pricing |
| Smaller fully-OA and HSS titles | ~3,000 | Discipline-specific OA journals |
| Subscription route (standard licence) | $0 | Most OUP journals - no charge unless you choose OA |
Peer review process
- Default model: single-anonymized peer review on most science and medical titles.
- Double-anonymized: common in humanities and social-science journals.
- Society editorial boards: most flagship titles are edited by the owning society's academic editors, with OUP handling production.
- Turnaround: varies widely by journal - large society flagships typically reach a first decision in one to three months; check each journal's published statistics where available.
How to submit
- Pick the journal. Browse Oxford Academic by subject or use SciSpace journal pages to compare scope, metrics, and fees.
- Read the author guidelines. Every OUP journal has title-specific instructions; citation style varies (Vancouver in medicine, OSCOLA in law, Harvard in HSS).
- Prepare your manuscript. Use the journal's template on SciSpace and follow its word, figure, and reference limits.
- Submit via ScholarOne or Editorial Manager. Most OUP science titles use ScholarOne Manuscripts (e.g., Nucleic Acids Research, Bioinformatics); others, including European Heart Journal, use Editorial Manager - the journal's page tells you which.
- Handle charges. If you choose OA, pay via OUP's SciPris portal or confirm Read & Publish eligibility with your library.
Ethics and integrity
OUP is a member of COPE, OASPA, and STM. Retractions and corrections follow COPE guidelines, and journals apply per-title data-availability policies - medical titles generally require data-sharing statements. As a university press and department of the University of Oxford, the Press reinvests surpluses in its academic mission.
