Open Access Publication & ACM

ACM exists to support the global computing community. As of January 1, 2026, ACM publications – including ACM journals, ACM and ICPS conference proceedings, and ACM magazines – will be Open Access, making research freely and permanently available to all.

This transition reflects ACM’s long-standing commitment to maximizing the visibility, impact, and accessibility of high-quality research. By removing paywalls and adopting Creative Commons licensing, ACM ensures that the work it publishes reaches the widest possible audience, supports global collaboration, and meets the requirements of major research funders.

ACM Open (ACM’s Transformative Model for Open Access Publication)

ACM Open is designed to enable Open Access publishing that benefits authors, institutions, and the broader computing community. 

Unlike traditional “Read + Publish” models that rely on unpredictable Article Processing Charges (APCs), ACM Open offers institutions unlimited Open Access publication and full access to the Premium version of the ACM Digital Library for a fixed annual price.

In addition to Open Access publication in the Digital Library, ACM offers ACM Open participating institutions the option to automatically deposit articles into their Institutional Repository (IR), ensuring all co-authors from participating institutions benefit from ACM Open.

ACM Open Author Experience

An accepted manuscript is eligible for ACM Open when the corresponding author’s primary affiliation is one that currently participates in ACM Open (a list of participating institutions can be found here). The corresponding author is responsible for completing ACM’s assignment of rights and permissions on behalf of all co-authors.

To ensure coverage by ACM Open, during submission:

• The corresponding author must be clearly designated in the journal or conference submission system.
• They must use their institutional email address.
• They must indicate their primary affiliation (the institution where most of the research was conducted).
• If an author has since moved institutions, a current address may also be included, but ACM will not update affiliations after publication.

After acceptance: 

• The corresponding author will receive the ACM eRights form to complete on behalf of all co-authors.
• On this form, the author selects:
  • The rights and permissions to grant ACM.
  • The preferred Creative Commons license for the published article (CC-BY or CC-BY-NC-ND).
  • These choices are logged and applied to the article prior to publication.

Open Access Pricing

From January 1, 2026, all ACM journals, magazines, and conference proceedings will be published in the ACM Digital Library at no charge: 

• If the corresponding author is affiliated with an institution participating in ACM Open (see list of participating institutions here). 
• If the country in which the author’s affiliated institution is located is classified by the World Bank as a low-income country.

For papers that do not fall into the above categories, an Article Processing Charge (APC) will be required.

To support a smooth and fair transition and encourage broader ACM Open participation, ACM has introduced a temporary subsidy on APC pricing for 2026, funded directly by ACM. This pricing applies to all journal and magazine articles that are processed through the ACM eRights system after 12:00 am US Eastern time on January 1, 2026 and all proceedings articles publishing in 2026. 

The subsidized pricing for 2026 is as follows:

Authors	No ACM or SIG Members	At Least 1 ACM or SIG Member
Journal Article	$1450	$950
From a lower-middle income country	$725	$475
Proceedings of the ACM Article	$350	$250
From a lower-middle income country	$175	$125
ACM Conference Article	$350	$250
From a lower-middle income country	$175	$125
ICPS Conference Article	$350	$250
From a lower-middle income country	$175	$125

Open Access APC Waivers and Discounts

As of January 1, 2026 all ACM Publications are published fully Open Access and will require participation in ACM Open, the payment of an APC, or a geographic or financial hardship waiver to publish with ACM.

Author Rights Under ACM Open

Authors of peer-reviewed and accepted articles published through ACM Open may choose how their rights are managed during the submission process using ACM’s eRights system. Available options include:

• CC-BY (Attribution): Allows others to share, adapt, and build upon the work, including commercially, provided appropriate credit is given.
• CC-BY-NC-ND (Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives): Allows others to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

These licenses govern what third parties may do with your published work. A separate grant of rights to ACM covers what ACM, as the Publisher, may do with the work, which includes (1) a non-exclusive license to publish that Work in the ACM Digital Library, (2) the right to serve as the official Publisher of that Work with associated commercial rights, including the right to license the Work to third parties, such as for training by LLMs, and (3) the right to defend the integrity of that Work against various forms of infringement and misconduct by third parties on behalf of the author.

Regardless of the option selected, all ACM authors retain their other proprietary rights, including:

• Patent, trademark, and moral rights
• Rights to major revisions and future works
• Self-archiving and posting rights
• Ownership and control over software, images, or third-party materials included in the work

For more information about Author Rights, please see ACM's Publication Rights & Licensing Policy.