With the support of the Conference of University Presidents (CPU), the Couperin consortium has conducted a national survey on article processing charges (APC) paid by French higher education and research institutions. The aim of the survey was to obtain and disseminate tangible data on the real expenditure involved. It was conducted over two periods – in 2016-2017 (2015 data) and 2018-2019 (2017 data), with 30 establishments responding to the survey in 2015 and 46 in 2017.

Here are some of the results:

• in 2015, there were 2089 articles with APCs for a total expenditure of €3,262,869 with an average APC of €1297 per article;
• in 2017, there were 3196 articles with APCs for a total expenditure of €5,595,087 with an average APC of €1500 per article;
• for the 28 organizations which responded in both 2015 and 2017, the survey found:
  • a 31% increase in the number of articles, a 47% increase in the total expenditure and a 15% increase in the average APC;
  • an increase in the number of articles regardless of the type of publisher although this was particularly significant in the case of traditional commercial publishers (93%);
  • increases in the average APC of 19% for full OA publishers and 3% for scholarly societies, unchanged APCs with university publishers and a 12% decrease for traditional commercial publishers.

The survey report and results are available with authenticated access.