Publication Charges

Publication Charges
Publication Charges
ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES (APCs)
Optica Publishing Group's open access journals are freely and widely available to all readers via our platform. In lieu of paid subscriptions, authors or their institutions pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) after their paper has been accepted for publication. There are no submission charges for Optica Publishing Group Journals. Articles are held for publication until payment of the APC is received. Please view the final PDF of the article in Prism prior to making payment, because corrections will not be made once the article is published.
Please refer to the
FAQ
if you have questions regarding the payment of the APCs.
Optica Publishing Group has agreements with various institutions to cover open access APCs for their authors. Find out if your institution will cover your APC
here
JOSA B Authors:
Publish Open Access in 2026 with No APCs
2026 ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES (APCs)
Up to 15 published pages
Per page 15+ published pages
APC with CC BY License (eligibility)
Effective Date
Biomed. Opt. Express
$1,775
$145
$2,025
1 January 2026
Opt. Mat. Express
$1,760
$145
$2,010
1 January 2026
Opt. Express
$2,300
$145
$2,550
1 January 2026
Up to 15 published pages
Per page 15+ published pages
30% Discount rate (qualifying countries)
APC with CC BY License (eligibility)
Effective Date
Optics Continuum
$1,240
$145
$868
$1,490
1 January 2026
Letters (up to 4 pages) and memoranda (up to 2 pages)
Research articles (up to 8 pages)
Per page 8+ published pages
APC with CC BY License (eligibility)
Effective Date
Optica
$2,910
$3,460
$145
$3,160 (≤4pp)
$3,710 (5-8pp)
1 January 2026
Optica Quantum
$2,265
$145
$2,515
1 January 2026
Up to 10 published pages
Per page 11+ published pages
APC with CC BY License (eligibility)
Effective Date
Photon. Res.
$2,500
$145
$2,750
1 January 2024
In some cases, copyediting may be a requirement for manuscript acceptance. We provide copyediting service to Express Journal authors. Contact journal staff for details and fees.
Discounts and Waivers
Optics Continuum
offers APC waivers or a 30% discount to corresponding authors from
qualifying low- and middle-income countries
. The corresponding author must have an accurate mailing address in our database in order for the system to apply the waiver or discount.
Biomedical Optics Express
Optica
Optica Quantum
Optical Materials Express
Optics Express
and
Photonics Research
waive APCs for corresponding authors from
qualifying low-income countries
and also in Ukraine (through 2026). The corresponding author must have an accurate mailing address in our database in order for the system to apply the waiver.
APC Refunds
We will offer a refund of an APC within 30 days of publication if a publisher error results in the article appearing under a different license from that selected by the authors. APCs will not be refunded due to the retraction or correction of an article owing to author error or misconduct.
Other Publication Charges
Overlength Fees
Color Art in Print
Voluntary Page Charges
Optional Open Access
Open Access with CC BY License (eligibility)
Appl. Opt.
JOSA A
JOSA B
$300 per page exceeding 10 pages
$650 for the first color figure
+ $325 for each additional figure
+ cost of reprints, if applicable
$125 per page suggested
$2,300
JOSA B 2026 is open access, no fee
$2,550
JOSA B 2026: $250 for CC BY
Opt. Lett.
N/A
$650 for the first color figure
+ $325 for each additional figure
+ cost of reprints, if applicable
$125 per page suggested
$2,300
$2,550
J. Opt. Commun. Netw.
$220 per page (pages 11-15)
Articles exceeding 15 pages must be approved by the Editor-in-Chief
N/A
$125 per page suggested
$2,300
$2,550
There are no charges for publication in
Advances in Optics and Photonics
Overlength Fees
Optics Letters
articles are limited to four printed pages; thus authors do not incur an overlength charge.
To estimate the length of your AO, JOSA, or JOCN paper, use the appropriate
manuscript template
. Eligible JOSA authors may apply for an
S. R. Seshadri JOSA Publications Grant
to assist with mandatory publication charges.
Color Charges
Color art may be included at no charge in the online versions of Optica Publishing Group journals. In addition, color art may be printed in
Applied Optics
, JOSA A, JOSA B and
Optics Letters
; however, it is necessary that the author's institution or funding agency defray the cost of color printing. See the table above for the current charges.
Voluntary Page Charges (AO, JOSA A, JOSA B, OL)
Voluntary page-charge contributions help defray the cost of editorial preparation and composition. These charges assist us in maintaining comparatively low subscription rates for our 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, we ask 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
We offer authors the option to pay for their articles to be Open Access in
Applied Optics
, JOSA A, JOSA B,
Optics Letters
, or JOCN. The fee for optional open access is $2,300 per article. Optional Open Access with a CC-BY license is $2,550 per article (
eligible for certain papers
). Open Access papers will be flagged as such in the journal issue table of contents and in the results of Optica Publishing Group searches. Note: Under JOSA B’s
Subscribe to Open model
, all 2026 content is automatically open access, no fee to authors, unless the paper qualifies for CC BY (see Other Publication Charges above).
Reprint Orders
Authors of articles in
Applied Optics
Advances in Optics and Photonics
, JOSA A, JOSA B,
Optica
Optica Quantum
, and OPN may purchase reprints any time after the page proofs are completed. All reprint orders for Optica Publishing Group journals should be submitted directly to Sheridan Press using the
Sheridan Electronic Order Center
. The corresponding author can access the Sheridan site from the publications payment system. Reprint orders may be submitted prior to publication or any time after publication. Journal staff will not have status information for reprint orders that are pending.
A special message to readers of JOSA A, JOSA B,
Optics Letters
Applied Optics
, and JOCN: If you believe 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@optica.org
. Please note that a CC BY license cannot be requested for articles that have been published.
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