Swiss National Science Foundation: User Guide

User Guide for researchers and administrators at institutions with grants funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

We Are ChronosHub

The leading open access management (OAM) platform for optimizing research publishing and reporting processes.

ChronosHub is an open access management platform for researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers. The mission is to transform the publishing process by maximizing automation to let researchers focus on the research and not the process of publishing research.

ChronosHub was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. The platform is used to process about 100,000 articles per year for APCs, OA agreements and repository deposits. For more information, please visit: https://chronoshub.io/.

How Can ChronosHub Help Me?

• Journal Compliance Check: You can check if a journal offers any publishing options that are compliant with your funder's policy.
• Agreements: You can see article processing charge (APC) estimations and if there’s an agreement in place covering the APC or giving you an APC discount.
• Payment: Upon article acceptance, you can submit your invoice to ChronosHub. The platform will then check if the invoice is eligible for payment. If eligible, ChronosHub will pay the invoice for you directly to the publisher on behalf on the funder.

SNSF OA Polices

As part of the evolution of its OA policy, SNSF adopted the online ChronosHub platform for the management of APCs. Any APCs for articles published after January 1, 2021, will be paid by SNSF through the ChronosHub platform. Read about both the previous and the current SNSF OA policy here.

APC Funding Eligibility

To get an APC invoice paid, the following criteria need to be met:

• Open Access Journal

Ensure the journal is a gold (fully) OA journal.

• Funded Project/SNSF grantee

Articles must be submitted by the SNSF grantees or the project staff via https://snsf.chronoshub.io/ and must refer to the SNSF-funded project. At least one of these persons must be mentioned as an author.

• Funding Acknowledgement

SNSF and the grant ID must be mentioned in the funding acknowledgement.

• Special Issues

The SNSF has decided to stop paying any Article Processing Charges (APCs) for Open Access articles in special issues from 1 February 2024. Articles submitted to a journal by 31 January 2024 will still be funded. SNSF researchers can still publish in special issues, but SNSF will not pay for the APC.

Process Overview: How To Use ChronosHub

Please go to https://snsf.chronoshub.io to access the platform.

How to log in?

Researchers can log in using an institutional email address. If it is your first time using the platform, then select 'Forgot Your Password'. Your email address will be linked to your SNSF grants.

Check journal compliance in the Journal Finder

Before submitting your article to a publisher, use the journal finder to check for compliance with the OA policy. You can also see agreements where applicable and if you will be eligible for APC funding upon acceptance.

Submit a funding request

APC invoices can be forwarded for payment in a few simple steps via the new widget on the platform. You can access the widget from the home page or after login. There is more information about this here: https://chronoshub.freshdesk.com/a/solutions/articles/101000522363?portalId=101000056205

Please be aware that the funding request is a two-step process. You will be sent an email to complete the process. If funding is approved by the funder, ChronosHub will process the payment of the full amount directly to the publisher.

Reimbursement

If the invoice has already been paid please contact: [email protected]. Please include the invoice and payment proof.

Reporting: Don't worry!

The funder has access to all the data on accepted and published articles via ChronosHub. You do not need to report your publications to the funder.

Open Access Glossary & Guide

APC, embargo period, OA, gold journal, hybrid, PI. Confused about the open access lingo? Fear not. We've created a glossary, where you'll find easy-to-understand definitions of all you need to know. Or, you can dig deeper in our Open Access Guide where we share our insights about open access and address different types of open access questions and concerns to help you better understand, know, and feel confident navigating the world of open access.

Please contact support at [email protected] if you have any questions.