Sage Journals: Licensing & Payment

Open Access                                                                                                                                    

Sage Journals: Licensing & Payment is an integrated online platform that uses customer-specific business rules to guide journal authors through their post-acceptance journey, bringing a wide range of Open Access and subscription workflows into a single unique, bespoke, and user-friendly platform.

Authors publishing Open Access (in Sage’s Gold Open Access journals and hybrid journals via Sage Choice) use the platform to manage their Open Access publishing options: from paying/assigning Article Processing Charges where applicable to signing funder compliant Creative Commons licenses.

Authors publishing subscription in Sage’s hybrid and subscription journals use the platform to sign Contributor Licenses. (New in 2025)

Consortia, Libraries and funders use the platform to manage their Open Access publishing actions.

Key features: 

• Simplify post-acceptance for authors: your options explained step-by-step in a single, user friendly platform
• Easy Contributor License signing: view, select your copyright ownership and digitally sign.
• Self-serve Sage Choice requests: view your Open Access options, preview Article Processing Charges and decide, all within the platform.
• Open Access processes made easy and streamlined: from signing Open Access licenses, to paying/assigning APCs, all choices can be made in the platform
• Automated eligibility: Open Access Agreement eligibility and identification is built in, we contact eligible authors
• Compliance confidence: automated compliance with all funder or national Open Access mandates
• Track your article through post-acceptance: authors, consortia, libraries and funders can view and track articles through approval, license selection and (where applicable) payment transaction processes.
• Detailed reporting for bill payers: through various administrative dashboard views and downloadable report functions.

Launched in early 2020, as Sage’s Open Access Platform to bring together Open Access processes into a single customer facing system for Sage’s Gold Open Access journals and Sage Choice (our hybrid OA publishing option). The platform was renamed to Sage Journals: Licensing & Payment in December 2024 and over the course of 2025 authors publishing in Sage’s hybrid and subscription journals will begin using the platform for Contributor License signing.

Read below to learn more about Sage Journals: Licensing & Payment.

What does Sage Journals: Licensing & Payment do?

For Authors publishing subscription:

• Instructions and link via email: All authors listed on the manuscript will receive an email from with clear instructions and a direct link to the platform.
• Simplified Contributor License signing: Authors will be presented with the Journal’s Contributor License, including the terms of the agreement. Authors must read the license and terms, then select who owns the copyright of their article, and digitally sign.
• Sage Choice selection available: If your article type is eligible, you can easily select the Sage Choice option during your journey, view the Article Processing Charge, and make an informed decision before signing the appropriate license.
• Automated reminders for authors: Stay on track with automated reminders to sign the Contributor License, helping you avoid delays in production and publication.
• Clear confirmation: All authors listed on the manuscript will receive an email confirmation and a copy of the signed Contributor License PDF.

For Authors publishing Open Access:

• Automatically identify and contact all authors who are eligible for an Open Access Agreement with Sage soon after their article enters Production.
• Provide the appropriate OA Creative Commons license which they, or any co-author, can select and digitally sign, quickly and easily.
• Provide a fully integrated online payment system to manage the APC transaction process, including automatically applying any applicable discounts, waivers or taxes.
  Authors will:
  • always be given any waiver or the highest single discount they are eligible for,
  • automatically be told if no payment is necessary or another party has already met any payment due,
  • be able to assign a bill payer given by the system (for example, a named institution or funder),
  • o have the choice to nominate an alternative bill payer or choose themselves as the bill payer.
• Ensure that they are meeting all known points of compliance including any applicable taxes due on their APC.
• Send automated reminders and updates on any activities relating to their article(s) in the platform.
• Create a personal login account within the platform from which to view and track the Open Access status of any article(s) on which they are an author or co-author.

For Consortia with an Open Access Agreement with Sage: 

• Set up the specific terms of their agreement to provide a single uniform workflow for their members to manage all of the hybrid and gold Open Access publishing provided for in their agreement with Sage.
• Automatically identify all eligible authors and eligible journals to which to apply the terms of their agreement; maximizing the uptake of their Open Access Agreement.
• Communicate requirements for Open Access publishing with their authors.
• Enable Sage to report with greater accuracy on the Open Access published output of their member institutions and their consortium organization.

For Libraries:

• Automate the terms of any Open Access Agreement they have either directly with Sage or are eligible for through a consortium or other agreement with Sage.
• Enable them to be set up in the system as a Centralized Bill Payer through which they can either pre-approve, approve, or decline to pay Open Access APCs associated with authors at their institution or organization centrally.
• Provide them with a fully integrated online payment system which can flexibly accommodate different payment methods, including centralized Open Access pre-paid accounts (OAPAs) or aggregated billing arrangements where agreed.
• Automate all author APC payment requests and reminders as well as provide them the ability to login to track requests that are either awaiting approval, approved for payment, or paid, including real time updated balance on any pre-paid central accounts held with Sage.
• Provide detailed reporting through various administrative dashboard views and downloadable report functions.

For Funders:

• Automate author compliance with any known Open Access funder mandates via Open Funder ID registry matches.
• Provide funders the ability to be set up as a Centralized Bill Payers to approve and pay for APCs directly in support of their Open Access mandates.
• Provide author declared funding information to funders, libraries and consortia.

Learn more about Sage’s Open Access program as well as our various Open Access Agreements.