Next steps for publishing your article: What to expect after acceptance

Following the acceptance for publication of your article after the Editorial process after submission, your manuscript is handed over to production for typesetting. Once typesetting is complete, we’ll guide you, the corresponding author, through simple, secure steps to:

  • Confirm your affiliation (institution or university), see also Next steps for publishing your article: How to confirm your affiliation
  • Choose whether to publish open access or non-open access (subscription), see also Next steps for publishing your article: How to choose a publishing model (Open access or subscription)
  • Determine whether an article processing charge (APC) is covered by an agreement from your institution
    • Accepted articles are checked for eligibility under our institutional open access agreements based on the institutional affiliation of the corresponding author. Some articles are eligible for part or full coverage of the APC as part of an institutional agreement with Springer Nature. In the event that an author is not eligible under an institutional open access agreement, they may still select the OA option and arrange for APC processing through direct payment or through a variety of funding options.   
    • If you choose non-open access (subscription), there is no APCs to pay
  • Sign appropriate publishing agreement
    • Depending on the ownership of the journal and its policies, you will either grant the Publisher a non-exclusive license to publish the article or will be asked to transfer copyright of the article to the Publisher. A copy of the agreement is automatically sent to you via email for your records.
  • Arrange payment for associated publication costs (see APC Payment Options and Coloured article figures and Colour Charges)

The article publication can only proceed once these guided steps are completed.


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A dedicated Author Service team is available to help along the way:

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