The Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council (MRC) require electronic copies of any research papers that are accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and are supported in whole or in part by Wellcome Trust or MRC funding, be made available through PubMed Central as soon as possible and in any event within 6 months of the journal publisher’s official date of final publication. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) policy, which asks that electronic copies of accepted research papers be made freely accessible online within 6 months of publication, is available on the HHMI website (http://www.hhmi.org/about/research/sc320.pdf).

The Endocrine Society will offer authors supported by the Wellcome Trust, MRC, and HHMI the option of meeting the publications requirements for open access. The cost to authors is $3,000. Corresponding authors can indicate on their pro forma invoices is they wish to exercise this option. Upon receipt of payment, the final print version will be deposited in PubMed Central for immediate open access. These articles will also be licensed using the Creative Commons, Attribution, Non-commercial license 2.0.