BMJ APC and Open Access: Two Journals and Transparent Pricing

The BMJ states that the full text of every research article it publishes is immediately accessible on bmj.com through open access viewing, for everyone. It says it is committed to keeping research articles open access, with reuse through Creative Commons licences (the default being CC BY-NC), and to depositing the full text in PubMed Central as well as on bmj.com.

That has practical consequences for authors. BMJ says it immediately fulfils the requirements of the US National Institutes of Health, the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and other funding bodies by making the full text of publicly funded research freely available and sending it directly to PubMed Central. BMJ Publishing Group launched BMJ Open in 2011 as a dedicated gold OA journal.

All research articles published by The BMJ are published open access by default, irrespective of who funded the research. There is no subscription-track option for research articles, and no free route that skips the fee other than a waiver or an institutional arrangement.

1. Research articles (default): Published open access under a Creative Commons licence. The default is CC BY-NC 4.0. Where a funder requires it, the author can select CC BY 4.0 during submission. BMJ lists funders that currently require CC BY as UK Research and Innovation, the Wellcome Trust and NIH on its copyright page; its article-types page names the Wellcome Trust, RCUK and MRC. The two pages differ, so check with your funder.

1. Non-research articles: BMJ occasionally publishes other article types open access when a funder mandates it. For non-research articles published with open access, BMJ asks authors to pay the open access fee. Authors of non-research articles that require open access are encouraged to contact papersadmin@bmj.com.

For articles that are not published with open access, BMJ's publication licence lets each author post the article's URL on their own or their employer's website, giving free access to the full text on bmj.com through the toll-free link.

BMJ's print circulation is about 122,000 copies and bmj.com has 2,700,000 views per month, per its publishing model page, so a paper reaches clinicians whichever way it is funded.

BMJ Open is one of the largest and most established gold OA medical journals. Some key facts:

• APC: £2,163 (~$2,850 USD)

• Model: Fully gold OA (every article is open from day one)

• License: CC BY

• BMJ Open JIF: 2.5 as the current 2025 citation metric

• Articles per year: Over 3,000

• Acceptance rate: 27%

• Review criteria: Methodological soundness, not perceived novelty

• Submission portal: BMJ Open ScholarOne

BMJ Open's acceptance rate is much higher than the flagship (which publishes about 7% of the submissions it receives). The journal evaluates papers on scientific rigor and methodological quality rather than novelty or perceived impact. This makes it an excellent option for well-conducted studies that don't fit the flagship's narrow editorial focus.

At $2,850, BMJ Open is also one of the cheapest gold OA options among well-established medical journals. For Plan S compliance on a budget, it's hard to beat.

BMJ says that a number of institutions have joined its Open Access Programme, which can either cover the whole cost of open access publishing for authors at participating institutions or allow authors to receive a discount off the article publishing charge.

BMJ's copyright and open access page lists participating institutions and points to its Information for Institutions page. If you are a researcher at a participating institution, your fee may be reduced or fully covered. Contact your librarian for how to receive a discount or publish free of charge.

We did not verify coverage by country or consortium in this check, and BMJ's page does not publish a consortium-by-consortium table. Don't assume that agreements with other publishers cover BMJ, as these are separate publishers with separate deals.

BMJ's policy, in its own words, covers waivers and part payment:

• BMJ recognises that some authors do not have access to funding to cover publication costs, and "actively encourage[s] part payment where only limited funds are available".

• BMJ considers waivers to authors in exceptional circumstances by direct request only, and recommends that all authors discuss open access payment options with their institutions and funders in advance of submission.

• Discount and waiver decisions take into consideration any external funding for the research for any contributing authors, and whether authors can contribute from their personal accounts.

• Consideration of research articles is not related to ability to pay the fee, and authors are asked not to discuss payment with editors at any stage of peer review. Administrative staff handle fee communications.

• Open access fees cannot be waived for living systematic reviews, which carry additional fees for updates.

• BMJ does not offer refunds for open access once articles have been published.

BMJ does not publish a funder-by-funder compliance table, and its author pages do not mention Plan S. What BMJ does state:

Research articles in The BMJ are open access by default and deposited in PubMed Central, so there is no separate green-route decision for research articles. Check your funder's policy about the licence and any fee reimbursement before you submit.

BMJ Publishing Group publishes 70+ journals across many specialties. Some of the strongest:

Gut JIF 24.6 and Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JIF 24 are world-class in their fields. Their fees are listed on each journal's own page. If your work fits a specialty journal better than the generalist flagship, these are excellent options with similar or lower costs.

The BMJ asks for its open access fee only after acceptance. Keep these in mind:

• Currency choice: BMJ lists the fee in pounds, euros and dollars (£6260 / €7490 / $8330). Check which currency your invoice or institution uses, and expect exchange-rate differences if your grant is in another currency.

• BMJ Open is always paid: There's no subscription track at BMJ Open. Acceptance means you owe £2,163. Budget for this if you're submitting there.

• VAT: BMJ's open access fee page does not say whether VAT applies. Ask your institution or the BMJ open access team (openaccess.bmj@bmjgroup.com) before you budget.

• Reprints: Physical reprints are charged separately. Rarely needed in 2026, but some institutions request them.

• Data sharing costs: BMJ has strong data sharing requirements for clinical trials. Depositing datasets in approved repositories is usually free, but preparing data for sharing requires staff time.

The BMJ offers one of the simplest cost calculations in top-tier medical publishing:

1. Institution in BMJ's Open Access Programme? Your fee may be reduced or fully covered. Ask your librarian.

1. Funder that reimburses fees? Budget £6260 / €7490 / $8330 for flagship research articles (submissions from 1 June 2026) and ask your funder whether CC BY is required.

1. Limited funds? BMJ encourages part payment where only limited funds are available, and considers waivers in exceptional circumstances by direct request.

1. Budget-conscious but need gold OA? BMJ Open at $2,850 may be a lower-cost route for a large, well-established gold OA journal; check its current fee on its own page. The flagship has no subscription track for research articles.

The BMJ's editorial focus matters for your submission decision. The journal prioritizes research with direct implications for clinical practice, health policy, or public health. It publishes more systematic reviews and observational studies than NEJM or The Lancet. If your paper's strength is a practice-changing RCT, target NEJM or Lancet. If it's a well-designed cohort study or policy analysis, the BMJ may be a better editorial fit.

Before submitting to the BMJ or any top medical journal, make sure your manuscript meets the editorial bar. BMJ submission readiness check to identify structural and framing issues before your paper reaches the editors. For more on how publication costs compare across the top medical journals, see our NEJM cost breakdown.

For current APC rates and author guidelines, visit the BMJ's official author hub.

Method note: this page was reviewed on 2026-10-08 against the BMJ copyright, open access and permission to reuse page, the article types and preparation page, the publishing model page, BMJ Open fee language, JCR context, and Manusights clinical-medicine submission-screening patterns. We checked the APC and open-access choice separately from journal fit because cost, access route, and citation metrics do not change the manuscript evidence an editor sees.

In our audit of the 16 metric reports our team reviewed, the specific risk pattern was treating a fee, JIF, or unofficial rate as the submission decision. The editorial triage pattern is stricter in practice: editors actually screen for scope, evidence strength, and audience fit before cost or citation metrics matter.

Use this year-over-year checklist before citing numbers from BMJ in a grant, CV, or submission memo. It is a verification aid, not a claim that every older value is stable.

Do not use one number as the whole BMJ decision. Check CiteScore, SJR, H-index, article type, publication volume, and the journal's real audience before treating the fee, acceptance rate, or JIF as decisive.

In our review work, the common mistake is using a metric to justify a weak fit. A stronger submission decision asks whether the manuscript would still look native to the journal if the headline number disappeared.

Worth paying if:

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

• An institutional arrangement through BMJ's Open Access Programme covers or discounts 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 waiver, part payment or an institutional discount applies to you

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

For a manuscript-specific signal before you submit, run a BMJ submission readiness check.

Or see example reports before you finalize.