Open Access
Free to read, free to build on
Every article Lyra Science publishes is freely available to read, download, and share from the moment it is published – no subscriptions, no paywalls, no embargo period for readers.
What open access means
In traditional subscription publishing, a paper is finished and peer-reviewed, then locked behind a paywall – readers (or their institutions) pay to access it after the fact. Open access flips that: the cost of publishing is covered once, up front, and the finished article is then free for anyone, anywhere, to read – no institutional subscription required. This is often called the "gold" open access model, and it's the only model we publish under; there's no subscription tier or delayed-access option on any article.
Why it matters
Research that sits behind a paywall reaches a narrower audience than research that doesn't – a researcher at a smaller institution, a clinician, a policymaker, or an independent reader without a university login can hit a wall trying to read even publicly funded work. Open access removes that friction entirely. It also tends to broaden how a paper gets used and cited, since nothing stands between a reader finding the article and actually reading it.
Licensing
Articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license – the most permissive open-license option. Authors retain copyright to their work and grant readers the right to copy, redistribute, and adapt it for any purpose, including commercially, provided appropriate credit is given.
Article processing charges & fee waivers
Open access publishing is funded through a €200 article processing charge (APC) rather than reader fees, with a 50% waiver available for authors from low-income and lower-middle-income economies. The APC is only charged after a manuscript is accepted – never at submission, and never if it's rejected. See Article Processing Charges for full details.
Indexing & archiving
Our journals are indexed and abstracted in a growing set of open access databases – see the Indexing page for the current list.
Frequently asked questions
Can I reuse a CC-BY article commercially?
Yes. CC-BY only requires attribution to the original authors – it doesn't restrict commercial use, translation, or adaptation.
Do I need to ask permission to reproduce a figure or quote a passage?
No – that's the point of the license. Credit the original article (author, title, journal, DOI), and you're free to reuse it.
Who pays for open access if not readers?
A one-time article processing charge (APC), paid by the author or their institution/funder once a manuscript is accepted – never by readers, and never before acceptance.
Does open access mean lower editorial standards?
No – acceptance decisions are made by the editorial board based on peer review, entirely separate from the APC. A manuscript that doesn't meet the journal's standards is rejected regardless of an author's ability to pay.
Questions about our open access policy? Contact us at editorial@lyrascience.org.