What changed at Wiley in June 2025 for open access requests?

What actually changed

Since 7 June 2025, requests for APC coverage in fully open access journals are provisional at submission and confirmed only after acceptance, subject to verification of institution affiliation. Hybrid journals are not affected.

Why it matters

Before June 2025, a submission with valid affiliation would be treated as covered from day one. After the change, the system holds coverage as 'provisional' until it can verify: (a) your affiliation is real, (b) your institution actually has an agreement, (c) coverage credits remain available under that agreement.

What can go wrong

If your institution has an agreement but you enter affiliation incorrectly, verification fails and you owe the APC. If your institution's credits are exhausted (as happens at small universities), you owe the APC. If you moved institutions between submission and acceptance and didn't update the affiliation, you owe the APC.

What to do differently now

Confirm affiliation carefully at submission. If your institution has an agreement, verify current credit availability with your library BEFORE submitting, not after acceptance. Save the confirmation email from Wiley — you'll need it if the invoice arrives.

Hybrid workflow unchanged

The change only affects fully open access. For hybrid journals, coverage confirmation still happens after acceptance as before. But hybrid journals never have waivers, so this is a smaller change than it sounds. See our wiley-hybrid-vs-fully-oa page for the distinction.