Angewandte Chemie APC and Open Access: Wiley's Flagship Chemistry Journal and the DEAL Effect

Like JACS, Angewandte Chemie operates in a field where subscription publishing is still the norm. Papers published under the subscription model sit behind the paywall. The author pays no APC, and researchers at subscribing institutions (which includes virtually every university with a chemistry program) access papers normally.

This matters because it changes the OA decision calculus. In fields like biology, where funders aggressively mandate open access, the APC is often unavoidable. In chemistry, many funders (particularly in industry and some European national programs) don't require immediate OA. The subscription route remains a perfectly viable, cost-free option.

That said, the momentum is clearly toward OA. The German DEAL agreement has accelerated this shift among German authors.

The DEAL consortium (an alliance of German research institutions) negotiated a transformative agreement with Wiley that covers both journal access and OA publication for German researchers. Corresponding authors at eligible German institutions can publish open access in Angewandte Chemie without being charged.

Because Angewandte Chemie is published by Wiley-VCH (headquartered in Weinheim, Germany) and owned by the German Chemical Society, Germany is its home market. Germany accounted for 8% of the journal's authors in 2025, second to China at 60% (Wiley journal metrics). For corresponding authors at eligible German institutions, the DEAL agreement means Wiley does not charge them for open access publishing in Angewandte.

This has created an asymmetry. German authors publish OA in Angewandte at no cost through DEAL. Researchers in the US, UK, or Asia who want OA must pay $6,080 unless their institution, funder, or society covers it through its own Wiley agreement or account. The benefits are unevenly distributed.

Wiley has Read & Publish agreements in several other countries:

The US, again, lacks a national deal. Individual universities negotiate their own Wiley agreements. Check your library. If your institution has a Wiley Read & Publish agreement, the Angewandte Chemie OA APC may be covered, so check the eligibility rules on Wiley's page.

For researchers without institutional coverage, $6,080 is a significant expense. Most chemistry grants don't specifically budget for APCs at this level. You may need to draw from departmental OA funds or request a rebudget.

Waivers and discounts: Wiley's article publication charges page says its discounts and waivers apply only to fully open access journals, not to subscription journals offering hybrid open access. Angewandte Chemie is a hybrid journal, and its Open Access page lists no waiver or discount.

Institution, funder and society support: If the corresponding author's institution, funder, or society has a Wiley Open Access Account, all or part of the APC might be covered. Eligibility is based on the article's acceptance date and the organization having an active account or partnership arrangement when the order is placed.

1. Communications are the flagship format. Angewandte Chemie built its reputation on short, high-impact Communications (typically 2500 words). Research Articles and Review-type articles are also published, but Communications are what researchers mean when they say "I have an Angewandte paper." Wiley lists one APC for the journal rather than one per article type.

2. The journal has a distinctive editorial voice. Angewandte Chemie publishes Viewpoint Articles and Scientific Perspectives alongside research. Highlights are short commentaries, written by invitation, on exceptional recent research results. This gives Angewandte a community feel that few other chemistry journals match. It's not just a paper repository. It's a platform for chemical discourse.

3. Dual publication in German and English. Angewandte Chemie exists in two editions: the International Edition (in English, the one most researchers know) and the German edition (Angewandte Chemie). Papers accepted to the International Edition are also published in the German edition. This dual publication is a historical artifact of the journal's origins. You submit to the International Edition, and authors who are fluent in German may also supply a German translation of their manuscript.

For German researchers with DFG funding, compliance is automatic through DEAL. The agreement covers the APC and ensures CC BY licensing.

For Plan S funders outside Germany, you'll need the CC BY option at $6,080. Check institutional agreements first.

For NIH and NSF, check your funder's current public access rules and Wiley's Article Sharing Policy for what you may deposit and when.

• No page charges listed. The journal's Open Access page lists only the APC, and the Notice to Authors does not describe page charges.

• TOC graphic required. Like JACS, Angewandte requires a table of contents graphic. Specific dimension and resolution requirements apply.

• Supporting information. The Notice to Authors asks for detailed experimental methods and full characterization data in the Supporting Information, which is subject to peer review.

• Wiley Editing Services: Wiley offers language editing, translation, and formatting services. These are optional, and the Notice to Authors asks you to tell the journal if the manuscript was professionally edited by a service such as Wiley Editing Services.

• Self-archiving: The Notice to Authors says the submitted version of a manuscript may be archived immediately on a preprint server, institutional or company repository, approved Scholarly Collaboration Networks, or personal homepage, regardless of the publication model. See Wiley's Article Sharing Policy for other versions.

For German researchers, the decision is simple: publish in Angewandte via DEAL. OA is free for eligible authors, the license is CC BY, and you're publishing in a journal with deep roots in the German chemical community.

For everyone else, the question mirrors the JACS decision. If your funder doesn't require OA, publish via the subscription route for free. If OA is required, check your Wiley institutional agreement. If you're covered, great. If not, budget $6,080.

The Angewandte-vs-JACS choice comes down to fit. If your paper is a sharp, concise Communication with a clear advance, Angewandte's editorial style favors that format. If your work is broader in scope or benefits from a longer format, JACS may be a better home.

For a side-by-side with JACS, see our JACS APC guide. For the official journal information, visit the Angewandte Chemie homepage.

Before submitting, make sure your Communication or Research Article meets Angewandte's standards for novelty and presentation. The journal desk-rejects a large share of submissions. Angewandte Chemie submission readiness check to identify structural issues, missing characterization data, or presentation problems that lead to early rejection.

Worth paying if:

• Your funder mandates open access (check Plan S / cOAlition S requirements)

• An institutional Read & Publish agreement covers the fee

• Open access visibility meaningfully benefits your research area

• The APC fits within your grant budget

Consider alternatives if:

• The APC is a personal out-of-pocket expense

• A subscription option or green OA (preprint + embargo) satisfies your funder

• Another OA journal with a lower APC would provide similar visibility

For a manuscript-specific signal before you submit, run an Angewandte Chemie submission readiness check.

Or see example reports before you finalize.