University of Helsinki gets unlimited open-access publishing with JMIR for a flat annual fee

JMIR Publications

The University of Helsinki and JMIR Publications have signed an agreement that replaces individual article processing charges with a single annual institutional fee, giving every affiliated researcher - including those at Helsinki University Central Hospital - unlimited open-access publishing across JMIR's portfolio of digital health journals for 2026.

The deal, effective January 1 through December 31, 2026, eliminates the per-article financial decision that can slow or discourage publication, particularly for early-career researchers or those working on studies with limited grant budgets.

How the flat-fee model works

Under traditional open-access publishing, authors pay an article processing charge (APC) each time a paper is accepted. These fees vary by journal but commonly range from several hundred to several thousand dollars per article. The cost falls on authors, their grants, or their institutions, and it creates a per-publication friction point that can influence where and whether researchers choose to submit.

The Helsinki-JMIR agreement replaces this with an Institutional Publishing Fee (IPF) - a single payment that covers all qualifying publications for the year. Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Helsinki who use their institutional email address (helsinki.fi) at submission are eligible for full APC waivers across titles including the Journal of Medical Internet Research, JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, and JMIR Mental Health.

"This agreement represents the future of equitable open access," said Dennis O'Brien, VP of Communications and Partnerships at JMIR Publications. "By securing unlimited publishing rights under a single institutional fee, the University of Helsinki is solving two major challenges: eliminating the financial barriers for their authors and supporting the independent publishers that keep our scholarly ecosystem diverse and competitive."

The broader shift toward institutional agreements

The Helsinki deal is part of a broader trend in academic publishing. Libraries and institutions have been experimenting with so-called "transformative agreements" and flat-fee arrangements as alternatives to the traditional APC model, which critics argue creates financial barriers to open-access publishing - particularly for researchers at less wealthy institutions or in fields with smaller grant pools.

JMIR Publications, founded in 1999, has positioned itself as an independent open-access publisher focused on digital health research. Unlike the large commercial publishers that dominate academic publishing, JMIR operates on a smaller scale, which can make institutional agreements both more attractive and more logistically manageable for both parties.

Rob Turner, KGL Accucoms' Regional Manager for the UK, Scandinavia and South Africa, who negotiated the agreement, noted growing interest from other institutions. Librarians, Turner said, are joining JMIR's Institutional Partnership program because they can see the value other institutions have derived from reduced publishing costs, streamlined administration, and faster publishing workflows.

What this does and does not change

The agreement removes the financial barrier to open-access publishing for Helsinki researchers in JMIR journals. It does not change the peer review process, acceptance criteria, or editorial standards. Papers submitted by Helsinki-affiliated authors still go through the same review pipeline as any other submission. The flat fee covers publishing costs, not editorial decisions.

It is also worth noting the scope. The agreement covers JMIR Publications' portfolio only - not the broader landscape of open-access journals. Researchers who publish in journals outside the JMIR family still face standard APCs or other publication costs. And the one-year term means the arrangement will need to be renewed or renegotiated for 2027.

The financial terms of the agreement - how much Helsinki pays and how it compares to what the university would have spent on individual APCs - have not been publicly disclosed. Without those numbers, it is difficult to assess whether the deal represents a net savings for the university or a calculated investment in convenience and guaranteed access.

Helsinki's research profile

The University of Helsinki, founded in 1640, is Finland's largest and oldest university. It hosts more than 40,000 students and staff and ranks among the top one percent of universities globally. Its research priorities include future technologies, sustainable development, precision health, and education - several of which align with JMIR's focus on digital health, telemedicine, and health informatics.

The inclusion of Helsinki University Central Hospital in the agreement extends coverage to clinician-researchers who might otherwise face additional hurdles in securing APC funding through clinical rather than academic budgets.

Open access, open questions

Flat-fee institutional agreements address a real problem in academic publishing: the tension between the principle that publicly funded research should be freely available and the reality that someone must pay for the infrastructure of peer review, editing, and hosting. The APC model shifts costs from readers to authors, which opens access for readers but can create barriers for researchers.

Whether flat-fee agreements will scale across the publishing landscape remains an open question. They work well when the volume of publications from a single institution is predictable and the publisher's portfolio aligns with the institution's research strengths. They may be less practical for smaller institutions with fewer publications or for large commercial publishers whose APC revenue models are more complex.

For Helsinki researchers working in digital health, the immediate effect is straightforward: one less financial decision to make when choosing where to publish.