Fair access

We have an expansive developing country programme to allow free or low-cost access to our digital content for researchers in developing countries. We have launched an initiative to ensure that academics from eligible low and middle-income countries are able to publish in our open access and hybrid journals.

We also review and consider requests for waivers from academics who have insufficient funds to pay an Article Processing Charge in our open access journals. Please refer to individual journal information pages for further details.

Censorship

We will never be complicit in censorship. Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge which, as a world-leading research and teaching institution, is fully committed to the principle and promotion of freedom of speech and expression . As a global publisher, our goal is to disseminate knowledge to the widest possible audience, and to serve the academic community in all countries around the world. As a member of COPE we support COPE’s Statement on Censorship , and we follow the Association of University Presses’ Facing Censorship: Statement of Guiding Principles .

Marketing communication

Social media, email and other digital channels such as blogs, video and audio are powerful tools for disseminating and engaging with our publications, for reaching new readers and for keeping content alive. However, such onward communication should never be at the expense of the integrity of the content or of the academic record. We engage in marketing communication in accordance with our Global Social Media policy and adhere to relevant industry standards for marketing of publications, such as the Advertising Standards Authority’s Guidance on the Marketing of Publications . We also apply these policies and guidance when using external influencers during social media campaigns.

Advertising

We allow for suitable, limited advertising on our online academic platforms, and within some of our print publications. Where present, advertising must:

• be independent from editorial decisions on what we publish;
• be clearly distinct from content.

For further information on our due diligence and data protection policies, see our Code of Ethics . We reserve the right to reject or remove any advertising where we have concerns it contravenes these Research Publishing Ethics Guidelines or our Code of Ethics . We also advertise Cambridge products and services to customers. We do so in accordance with our Privacy Policy , data protection regulations, the Advertising Standards Authority’s Guidance on the Marketing of Publications , and our internal Compliance procedures

Sponsorship

Some of our publishing activities may be sponsored by other organisations. This includes, for example, sponsored supplements or sponsorship for Open Access publishing. Any sponsorship arrangements will be assessed in accordance with the following principles:

• Transparency and rigour in all dealings
• Strict maintenance of an independent editorial process
• Proportionality of benefits
  
  

We do not solicit or accept sponsorship from entities:

• Whose operations conflict with the Code of Ethics of the University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, or other relevant policies
• Which applicable laws prevent us from interacting with
• With whom an association might damage the reputation of Cambridge University Press or the University of Cambridge.
• Offers of sponsorship are subject to contract and may undergo an internal approval process by Cambridge University Press, in addition to approval by the relevant editorial contact.

PR / Media

Our Academic colleagues who are involved in media or publicity follow the International Public Relations Association’s Code of Conduct , and observe these standards in any press releases or other media communications. Where we solicit or encourage media activities concerning one of our authors, editors or publishing partners, we strive to keep them informed.

Metrics, usage and reporting

We endeavour to ensure that our reporting of content usage remains compliant with the industry standard and the COUNTER Code of Practice . We seek to implement new releases of COUNTER at the earliest opportunity in order to allow our customers and publishing partners to compare usage of Cambridge University Press resources with data received from other publishers and vendors. We may omit usage that infringes our Terms of Use, or which is known to be fraudulent or malicious (e.g. originating from Denial of Service attacks).

We partner with a number of third parties, including commercial services, to provide our users with metrics to illustrate the impact and reception of our content. We support the work of third parties such as Altmetric  and Crossref , and in some cases actively facilitate the work of such organisations (through the provision of data, access or fees). We do not seek to control or influence these third parties and we are not responsible for the metrics and rankings they produce.

Cambridge University Press is also a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment  (DORA). We are committed to promoting best practice in the assessment and impact reporting of scholarly research.