Small APC and Open Access: What Wiley Charges for Micro/Nanoscience Publication

Small is hybrid, and the subscription route remains the most common publication path. The author pays nothing, and readers access papers through institutional Wiley subscriptions.

Wiley journal packages are standard at research universities worldwide. If you're at an institution with any materials science, physics, or chemistry presence, your library likely has Small access. The functional readability difference between subscription and OA is marginal for academic audiences.

The question, as always, is whether your funder requires OA. German researchers on DFG grants, UK researchers on UKRI grants, and anyone funded by a Plan S member will need the gold OA option. US researchers on NSF or DOE funding can often satisfy public access requirements through green OA (manuscript deposit) without paying the APC.

Wiley has one of the most extensive transformative agreement networks in scholarly publishing. This directly benefits Small authors:

Germany is the standout. The Wiley-Projekt DEAL agreement covers OA APCs for researchers at all German research institutions. If you're at a German university, Max Planck institute, Helmholtz center, or Leibniz institute, your Small OA APC is covered automatically. This is one of the most generous transformative agreements in publishing, and it makes Small effectively free to publish for German researchers regardless of whether they choose subscription or OA.

UK coverage is also strong. The Jisc agreement covers Wiley OA APCs for UK universities. Combined with UKRI's OA mandate, this creates a seamless pipeline: the mandate requires OA, and the institutional agreement pays for it.

US coverage is less uniform. Wiley has agreements with individual US institutions, but there's no equivalent of Project DEAL. Check your library specifically for Wiley transformative agreement participation.

1. Impact factor around 13, placing it among the top nanoscience journals. Small ranks Q1 in nanoscience and nanotechnology, chemistry (multidisciplinary), materials science, and physics. Its IF of ~13 puts it above Nanoscale (~6.7) and Nano Letters (~10), close to ACS Nano (~15), and well below Nature Nanotechnology (~38). For full-length nanoscience articles, Small is a legitimate top-tier venue.

2. Broad scope covering micro and nano. Small isn't limited to nanomaterials. It covers microstructures, microfluidics, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), and other microscale research alongside traditional nanoscience. This broader scope differentiates it from journals like Nano Letters (nano only) and makes it suitable for work that bridges the micro-nano divide. The journal also covers nano-bio interfaces, nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, and energy-related nanoscience.

3. Companion journals expand the portfolio. Small has spawned several companion titles: Small Methods (focused on experimental and computational methods, IF ~10), Small Structures (focused on structure-property relationships, IF ~12), and Small Science (more exploratory scope). If your paper doesn't quite fit Small's main journal, these companions offer adjacent venues at comparable quality levels but with lower submission competition.

Wiley offers cost-reduction options:

Automatic waivers: Corresponding authors in Research4Life Group A countries receive full APC waivers.

Partial discounts: Group B countries receive 50% off.

Hardship waivers: Available on request for authors without grant or institutional funding. Wiley states that editorial decisions are independent of ability to pay.

Wiley Open Access Account: Some institutions prepay for OA publication credits. If your institution participates, you can draw from this account rather than paying per-article.

Green OA alternative: If your funder accepts it, you can deposit your accepted manuscript in an institutional repository after a 12-month embargo period. This satisfies many public access mandates without paying the APC.

The Wiley DEAL and Jisc agreements make compliance automatic for many European researchers. The agreement covers the APC, the journal provides the CC BY license, and the paper is immediately OA. No additional steps needed.

For US researchers, green OA through manuscript deposit is the cheapest compliance route for NIH and NSF mandates. If your institution doesn't have a Wiley agreement, the $5,000-$5,500 APC is a significant budget line.

• No page charges beyond the OA APC
• No color figure fees online
• Supporting Information is free and unlimited. Like most nanoscience journals, Small papers typically include extensive SI with characterization data.
• Wiley's editorial manager is the submission system. It's functional but not as polished as some competitors. Budget time for formatting and metadata entry.
• Cover images: Small offers the option to submit a cover image for your article. If selected, there's typically a fee ($500-$1,000+) for a frontispiece or cover. This is optional and cosmetic.
• Companion journal cascade: If Small rejects your paper, editors may offer to transfer it to Small Methods, Small Structures, or another Wiley journal. This saves time on resubmission, and the manuscript and reviews carry over.

For researchers at German or UK institutions, publishing in Small is essentially free through DEAL and Jisc agreements, whether you choose subscription or OA. The institutional coverage removes cost as a factor entirely.

For researchers without Wiley agreements, the $5,000-$5,500 APC is at the high end of nanoscience journal pricing. It's justified by the IF of ~13, but if cost is a primary concern, Nanoscale at half the price is worth considering.

The format flexibility is a genuine advantage. Small accepts both full articles and communications, so you don't need to choose between brevity and completeness.

For a broader view of nanoscience publishing costs, see our Nano Letters APC guide. For information about Wiley publishing across other journals, visit the Wiley Open Access page.

Before submitting to Small, make sure your manuscript clearly communicates the novelty and significance of your micro/nanoscience findings. Small's editors evaluate both technical quality and impact. Run a free readiness scan to identify gaps in your argument, missing characterization data, or structural weaknesses that could trigger a desk rejection.