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SPIE Journals Open Access

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Increased visibility Dissemination of knowledge Satifies funder requirements
Open access papers are downloaded six times more on average than non-OA papers. More visibility gives greater possibility for increased citations. Open Access enables free and rapid information exchange to help authors quickly reach a broad global audience. SPIE complies fully with the open access requirements of UKRI, Wellcome, and NIHR, allowing authors the right to distribute their manuscript.

SPIE Journals Open Access Options


Gold Open Access

Gold open access means publication under an international Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, where the authors retain ownership of the copyright. Publishing a paper in one of SPIE's Gold Open Access journals will give you and your paper maximum visibility.

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

Not all research communities value open access publication in the same way, and for many journals, hybrid open access is the best of both worlds. Under the hybrid model, authors can choose to pay the article processing fee for immediate gold or green open access.

Green open access articles are published under SPIE copyright and can be uploaded to an institutional repository without an embargo. This option is free to authors. Read more: spiedigitallibrary.org/article-sharing-policies

Diamond Open Access

Diamond open access articles are free to publish and free to read. Articles are published under a CC BY 4.0 license.

SPIE complies fully with the open access requirements of UKRI, Wellcome, and NIHR. Where required by their funder, authors retain the right to distribute their author-accepted manuscript (AAM), such as via an institutional and/or subject repository (e.g. EuropePMC), under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for release no later than the date of first online publication.

Article Processing Charges (APCs)


Open Access Article Option Fee
Gold Open Access From $1675
Gold Open Access - Society Discount
  • Corresponding author is a Member of SPIE
  • Corresponding author is affiliated with a qualifying SPIE Digital Library subscribing institution.
  • Corresponding author is an SPIE journal board member or guest editor
25% Discount
Gold Open Access - Special Economic Consideration $425
Green Open Access Free
Diamond Open Access Free

Note that only one discount can be applied per paper.

Waivers for special paper types: SPIE waives the open access fee on specific paper types, such as Reviews and Tutorials. See the table below for information about paper-type fee waivers specific to each journal.

Read and publish subscription option: Gives eligible authors at the institution unlimited open access publishing in all SPIE journals. Learn more and see if you qualify.

Open Access Publishing Options


Advanced Photonics journal cover

Advanced Photonics

Gold Open Access

APCs: $2100 / $1575 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Perspective Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0

Advanced Photonics Nexus journal cover

Advanced Photonics Nexus

Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0

Advanced Quantum Photonics journal cover

Advanced Quantum Photonics

Submissions accepted early 2026

See Details

Biophotonics Discovery journal cover

Biophotonics Discovery (BIOS)

Gold Open Access

APCs: Waived through June 2027

License: CC BY 4.0

Journal of Applied Remote Sensing cover

Journal of Applied Remote Sensing (JARS)

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

APCs: $800 / $600 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0, SPIE Copyright

Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems cover

Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS)

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0, SPIE Copyright

Journal of Biomedical Optics cover

Journal of Biomedical Optics (JBO)

Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers, Perspective Papers

License: CC BY 4.0

Journal of Electronic Imaging cover

Journal of Electronic Imaging (JEI)

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers, Perspective Papers

License: CC BY 4.0, SPIE Copyright

Journal of Medical Imaging cover

Journal of Medical Imaging (JMI)

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0, SPIE Copyright

Journal of Micro/Nanopatterning, Materials, and Metrology cover

Journal of Micro/Nanopatterning, Materials, and Metrology (JM3)

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0, SPIE Copyright

Journal of Nanophotonics cover

Journal of Nanophotonics (JNP)

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0, SPIE Copyright

Journal of Optical Microsystems cover

Journal of Optical Microsystems (JOM)

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0, SPIE Copyright

Journal of Photonics for Energy cover

Journal of Photonics for Energy (JPE)

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0, SPIE Copyright

Neurophotonics journal cover

Neurophotonics

Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers, Perspective Papers, Primer Papers, Protocol Papers

License: CC BY 4.0

Optical Engineering journal cover

Optical Engineering (OE)

Hybrid - Green or Gold Open Access

APCs: $1675 / $1255 / $425

Fee Waivers: Review Papers, Tutorial Papers

License: CC BY 4.0, SPIE Copyright

Photonics Insights journal cover

Photonics Insights

Diamond Open Access

APCs: Free to publish

License: CC BY 4.0

Read and Publish option


SPIE Digital Library subscribing institutions have the option of converting their subscription to a Read and Publish agreement. Adding open access publishing gives eligible authors at the institution unlimited open access publishing in all SPIE journals.

Benefits for Authors:

  • Free unlimited open access publishing in all SPIE journals
  • Greater visibility for authors and their research
  • Satisfies funder mandates
  • Articles published under CC BY 4.0 license - authors retain ownership of copyright

Benefits for Institutions:

  • Straightforward pricing based on past publishing output
  • Greater visibility for the institution
  • One annual fee
  • Only the corresponding author must be affiliated with the institution

Institutions with Read and Publish agreements with SPIE (by country):


University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Technische Universitat Graz
Technische Universitat Wien

The University of Hong Kong

Tallinn University of Technology

Aalto University
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd.

Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg
DESY-Zentralbibliothek
Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt, Bibliothek
Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
DKFZ - Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum
Fraunhofer Institutes
Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen
Hochschule Heilbronn - Bibliothek
Hochschule Muenchen
IHP GmbH - Leibniz-Institut fur Innovative Mikroelektronik
INM - Leibniz-Institut fuer Neue Materialien (INM)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT
Leibniz-Institut fur Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)
Max Planck Institute
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bibliothek (PTB)
Saxon State and University Library / Technische Universitat Dresden (SLUB)
Technische Hochschule Nurnberg Georg Simon Ohm
Technische Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe - S(kim)
Technische Informationsbibliothek Hannoverm (TIB)
Technische Universitat Ilmenau
TH Mittelhessen, Hochschulbibliothek
Universitaet Stuttgart, Bibliothek
Universitaet Rostock / Universitaetsbibliothek

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)

Institute of Science Tokyo
Tokyo Denki University
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Eindhoven University of Technology
Delft University of Technology
Univ. of Twente
Univ. of Amsterdam

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC)
University de Jaen
University Politecnica de Catalunya

Chalmers University of Technology
Gothenburg University Library
Kungliga Tekniska Hogskolan (KTH)
Linkoping University
Lulea Univ. of Technology
Lund University
Mid Sweden University
Swedish Defence Research Agency
Swedish Patent and Registration Office
Uppsala University

ETH Zurich
University of Zurich

Aston University
The Open University
University of Bath
University of Cambridge
University of St. Andrews

Carnegie Mellon University
Chapman University
Georgia Institute of Technology
JPL Library
Northeastern University
Syracuse University
The University of Texas at Dallas
University of Cincinnati
University of Michigan
Vanderbilt University