Publication Charges and Reprints

Mandatory Page Charges
Optics Express Publication Fees
Color Charges
Voluntary Page Charges
Optional Open Access
Payment Information
Reprint Orders

Mandatory Page Charges
(AO, JOSA A, JOSA B)

Starting on September 1, 2008, page charges for Applied Optics (AO) will change. AO's new overlength publication charge is now consistent with that of the Journal of the Optical Society of America A (JOSA A) and the Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B): $250 per printed page in excess of 10 pages, an increase of $50 per page from the 2007 charges. [Please note that overlength charges for papers published in JOSA A and JOSA B have not been revised.] This page charge change applies to page charges assessed/paid after September 1, 2008.

Optics Letters articles are limited to three printed pages; thus authors do not incur an overlength charge.

To estimate the length of your JOSA or AO paper, divide the number of double-spaced manuscript pages, including illustrations, by 3.5 for JOSA A and JOSA B or by 4.0 for AO. Additional mandatory charges may be incurred for excessive author alterations of page proofs. Eligible JOSA authors may apply for a JOSA Publications Grant to assist with mandatory publication charges.

Optics Express Publication Fees

Optics Express is freely and widely available to all readers via the Internet. In lieu of paid subscriptions, Optics Express requires authors to pay a publication fee. Articles are held for publication until payment of the fee is received. Authors must pay the fee after their paper has been accepted for publication.

Please refer to the FAQ if you have questions regarding the payment of the publication fees

Current fees

In some cases, copyediting may be a requirement for manuscript acceptance. OSA provides copyediting service to OpEx authors. Contact OpEx staff for details and fees.

Color Art Online Only (free to authors, but strict adherence to guidelines required)

Read the guidelines for Free Color Online in OSA Journals.

Color Art in Print (author pays)

Color illustrations can be printed in OSA journals; however, it is necessary that the author's institution or funding agency defray the cost of color printing. Authors who choose to include color illustrations will be billed according to these charges:

    $650 for the first piece of color 
    + $325 for each additional piece 
    + cost of color reprints, if applicable 

Note that one figure may contain several pieces; each piece must be processed separately. For example, an author who publishes a paper with three pieces of color art would be charged $650 + $325 + $325 for the color art, subtotal of $1300. This is in addition to applicable page charges. Any figures that are printed in color will also appear in color online. The charge for color reprints depends on the article length. Payment for color reprints is made to Sheridan Press.

Waivers for printed color will not be granted. Authors who cannot pay color charges must use black and white figures or submit art files that meet requirements for free online color only.

Voluntary Page Charges (Applied Optics, JOSA A, JOSA B, Optics Letters)

Voluntary page-charge contributions help defray the cost of editorial preparation and composition. These charges assist OSA in maintaining comparatively low subscription rates for OSA members and libraries, thus maximizing the dissemination of research results. Payment is neither an obligation nor a prerequisite for publication. In general, publication charges are regarded as an essential part of research budgets, since publication is the final process in a research project. As such, OSA asks authors to consider making voluntary contributions ($125 per page) in partial support of their research and to offset fundamental costs attached to its publication.

Optional Open Access

OSA offers authors the option to pay for their articles to be Open Access in Applied Optics, JOSA A, JOSA B, Optics Letters, or the Journal of Optical Networking. The fee for optional open access is $1500 per article. Authors will be invited to consider this option when page proofs are available. Open Access papers will be flagged as such in the journal issue table of contents and in the results of Optics InfoBase searches.

A special message to readers of JOSA A, JOSA B, Optics Letters, Applied Optics, and the Journal of Optical Networking: If you feel that an article in any one of these journals deserves wider access, you also have the option of sponsoring the Open Access fee. The fee for readers is the same as for authors. If you're interested in sponsoring a particular article to be Open Access, contact infobase@osa.org

Reprint Orders

Authors of articles in Applied Optics, JOSA A, JOSA B, and Optics Letters, and OPN may purchase reprints anytime after the page proofs are completed. All reprint orders for OSA journals should be submitted directly to Sheridan Press using the Sheridan Electronic Order Center, https://caesar.sheridan.com/osa/eoc. The corresponding author can access the Sheridan site from the OSA publications payment system. Reprint orders may be submitted prior to publication or anytime after publication. OSA staff will not have status information for reprint orders that are pending.