Luxembourg National Research Foundation: User Guide

User Guide for researchers and administrators with grants funded by the Luxembourg National Research Foundation (FNR).

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/. 

Since 2020, the FNR and BnL are using the ChronosHub platform enabling all FNR grantees to have their APC invoices processed, as well as national publisher agreements monitored.

    How Can ChronosHub Help Me?

• Journal Compliance Check: In ChronosHub, you can check if a journal offers any publishing options that are compliant with the FNR OA policy.
• Agreements: In the ChronosHub Journal Finder, you can see APC (Article Processing Charge) estimations and if there's an agreement covering the APC or giving you and 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. If the invoice amount is beyond the cap that FNR pays, the remaining amount will be invoiced to your institution for them to reimburse the FNR.

FNR OA Polices

As part of the evolution of it's OA policy, the FNR has adopted the online ChronosHub platform for the management of APCs. According to the current policy, any APCs for articles published after January 1st, 2021, will be paid by FNR through the ChronosHub platform (instead of reimbursement through the previous FNR OA Fund call).

Read about both the current and the previous FNR OA policies here: https://www.fnr.lu/funding-instruments/open-access-fund/

APC Funding Eligibility

Some APCs are covered by the FNR. For transformative and gold open access journals the FNR will cover up to 2.500€. Only APCs, no other OA fees (e.g. page charges) are eligible.

If the APC exceeds the funding cap, the full invoice will still be paid directly to the publisher through ChronosHub. The institution will thereafter receive an invoice from ChronosHub for the remaining amount.

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

• Open Access Journal: Ensure the journal is a gold (fully) OA or transformative journal. FNR will no longer pay for open access publication fees in hybrid journals, unless they are part of a compliant transformative arrangement.
• Funded Project/Grant ID: The research must be an FNR funded project and have a grant ID.
• Funding Acknowledgement: The funding from FNR must be acknowledged, see how under FNR Logos & Communication Guidelines.
• Author being an FNR grantee: At least one of the authors must be an FNR grantee.
• License: The publishing license must be a CC BY 4.0 license.
  

Process Overview: How To Use ChronosHub

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

Access Account: How to log in?

Log in using an institutional email address. If it is your first time using the platform, then select 'Forgot Your Password'. 

Compliance: Check compliance in the Journal Finder

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

Select FNR as your funder.

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 how to use the widget here:    https://chronoshub.freshdesk.com/en/support/solutions/articles/101000528531-fnr-how-to-use-the-new-funding-eligibility-widget

    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.

Direct Payment: Payment upon acceptance

If funding is approved by the FNR, ChronosHub will process the payment of the full amount directly to the publisher. In case the APC exceeds FNR’s cap, the institution will be invoiced to reimburse the part exceeding the cap.

Reimbursement: Reimbursement after payment

Submissions to ChronosHub after invoices were already paid by the host institution (e.g. reimbursements) are no longer eligible after January 2023 and are rejected by FNR without further evaluation!

Reporting: Don't worry!

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

Open Access Glossary & Guide

APC, embargo period, OAF, 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 to better understand, know, and feel confident navigating the world of Open Access.

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