Publication Charges and Reprints
Mandatory Page Charges
JOCN 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)
For each journal printed page in excess of 10, a mandatory page charge is incurred. The Optical Society assesses these charges per journal as follows:
| Applied Optics (AO) | $300.00 |
| Journal of the Optical Society of America A (JOSA A) | $300.00 |
| Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B) | $300.00 |
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. Please refer to the FAQ if you have questions regarding the payment of the publication fees.
JOCN Page Charges -- JOCN is co-published by IEEE and OSA
The following mandatory page charges will be assessed by IEEE upon publication:
| Pages 1-10 | No charge |
| Pages 11-15 | $220 per page |
| Articles exceeding 15 pages will not be published unless approved by the Editors in Chief | |
Authors are encouraged to use the JOCN article templates to estimate the page count. NOTE: For more accurate page-length estimate with the LaTeX template, please use New Century Schoolbook font if your LaTeX system supports it: \usepackage{newcent}.
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 effect from May 1, 2009-April 30, 2010
| $925 | 6 or fewer published pages |
| $1585 | 7-15 published pages |
| $145 | Per page 15+ published pages |
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)
Read the guidelines for Free Color Online in OSA Journals.
Color Art in Print (author pays)
Color illustrations can 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. 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, or Optics Letters. 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, and Applied Optics: 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, Advances in Optics and Photonics, JOSA A, JOSA B, 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.
