One Nation One Subscription

ONOS APC Support Guidelines

Lakshminath Bezbaroa Central Library, IIT Guwahati  |  For Faculty, Research Scholars & Students

1. About ONOS APC Support

APC (Article Processing Charge) is a fee paid to publish a research article in a Gold Open Access journal after peer review and acceptance.

INFLIBNET Centre, Gandhinagar, under the Government of India's One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) programme, supports APCs for publishing research articles in 426 selected top-5% Q1 Gold Open Access journals.

  • INFLIBNET pays the APC directly to the publisher on behalf of eligible authors.
  • The scheme promotes open access, enhancing visibility, citations, and global impact of Indian research.
  • IIT Guwahati is a participating institution (Institute Code: U-0053).
  • APC support is available on a first-come, first-served basis subject to fund availability.
2. Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for ONOS APC support, the applicant must satisfy all of the following:

  • Must be a regular faculty member, research scholar, student, or Principal Investigator at IIT Guwahati at the time of submission of the manuscript.
  • The applicant must be the first author OR the corresponding author of the article.
  • The journal must be in the official ONOS APC eligible list (426 journals).
  • The APC must not be paid by any other national (government or private) or international/multilateral institution, agency, or government.
  • The APC must not be shown as a component in any project grant.
Note: Co-authors may be from other institutions. However, only the first or corresponding author affiliated with IIT Guwahati can apply.
3. Eligible Journals

The ONOS APC programme covers 426 top-5% Q1 Gold Open Access journals across all disciplines.

If your target journal is not on this list, APC support under ONOS is not available for that article.

4. How to Apply — Step-by-Step
Before you begin, keep ready: (1) Acceptance letter / email from the journal   (2) Proforma / APC invoice from publisher   (3) Your AADHAAR-registered name   (4) IIT Guwahati institutional email (@iitg.ac.in)   (5) ORCID ID (if available). Prepare a softcopy of all documents — the portal has a time limit.
1
Submit Your Paper & Complete Peer Review

Submit your manuscript to any eligible journal through the journal's submission portal. Complete the peer review process as required by the journal.

2
Inform Publisher After Acceptance — Request Invoice

After the article is accepted for publication, inform the publisher that the APC will be paid directly by INFLIBNET Centre. Request a proforma invoice addressed to:

One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
INFLIBNET Centre, An IUC of UGC
InfoCity, Gandhinagar – 382 007, Gujarat, India
GSTIN: 24AAATI1480J1ZS    PAN: AAATI1480J1

The invoice must clearly include: Journal Name, Article title / Manuscript ID / DOI, Total APC Amount, and Publisher's bank / payment details.

3
Register on the ONOS APC Portal

Visit onos.gov.in/apc. Fill in the registration form:
Full Name (as per AADHAAR), Gender, Designation, Department, ORCID ID, State, Institution Name (Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati), Phone Number, and IIT Guwahati email.

Click Get OTP. An OTP is sent to your institutional email. Enter and confirm.

4
Fill in Article Details

After OTP verification, fill in:
Article Title, Publication Name (select from dropdown), Currency & APC amount as per invoice, Research Funder (INFLIBNET Centre, Gandhinagar), Article Type (Research Article), Date Submitted and Date Accepted, Last Date for APC Payment (from publisher), Publisher's Email and Contact Address, Main Subject Area (as per SCOPUS).

5
Add All Author Details

Add details for each author. Click the + button to add co-authors. For each author provide: Author Type (First / Corresponding / Significant Contributor / Other), Name as per AADHAAR and as per submitted article, Gender, ORCID ID, Nationality, Country of affiliating institution, Name of affiliating institution. Click Next when complete.

6
Declare Author Contributions & Submit

Assign contribution types to each author (Conceptualisation, Methodology, Data Collection, Formal Analysis, Writing — original draft, Writing — review & editing, Supervision, Funding Acquisition, etc.). Click Submit. The system sends notification emails to all authors and the ONOS Nodal Officer. The Nodal Officer at Lakshminath Bezbaroa Central Library verifies the applicant's bonafide status and approves on the ONOS admin portal.

7
Download, Sign, and Obtain Institutional Endorsement

After submission, go to Existing Submissions (Already Registered Author? → enter email → OTP). Click the View PDF icon to download the Declaration of Author's Contribution. Print the declaration and obtain:

1. Signatures of all co-authors
2. Signature & seal of the Dean of Academic Research (Endorsement from Head of Institution — see Section 5)

Scan the fully signed document as a single PDF.

8
Upload Documents to ONOS Portal

Go to Existing Submissions → click Pending status to open the upload page. Upload these three documents:

#DocumentWhat to Upload
1Signed Author DeclarationFully signed & scanned Declaration of Author's Contribution (with Dean of Academic Research endorsement)
2Acceptance Email / LetterEmail or letter from the journal confirming acceptance for publication (PDF)
3APC Invoice / Proforma InvoicePublisher's APC invoice showing the APC amount (PDF)
Post-Submission Process
StageAction
ONOS / INFLIBNET ReviewINFLIBNET reviews and accepts/rejects based on fund availability (first-come, first-served).
PaymentINFLIBNET pays the APC directly to the publisher's bank account. TDS is deducted as per Government of India rules.
ConfirmationAuthor receives email notification with payment details. After article is published, confirm publication on the ONOS portal.
Payment processing time: Approximately 15–20 working days. After payment, the author must confirm publication on the ONOS portal; otherwise, their next article will not be eligible for APC support.
5. Institutional Endorsement at IIT Guwahati

The Declaration of Author's Contribution (downloaded from the ONOS portal after submission) requires an Endorsement from the Head of Institution before it can be uploaded to complete the APC application.

The endorsement requires the signing authority to certify:

  • (a) That the applicant author is a Bonafide full-time employee of this Institute / regular student of the Institute / researcher affiliated with the Institute (strike off whichever is not applicable).
  • (b) That in case the applicant has to return the APC charge paid by ONOS and is not paying it within the time specified by ONOS, the Institute will recover the same from her/him and pay the same to ONOS.

Signature from Head of Institution with Office seal/stamp is mandatory.

Signing Authority at IIT Guwahati: The Dean of Academic Research is the designated signing authority for the Head of Institution (HoI) endorsement on ONOS APC declarations at IIT Guwahati.

Endorsement Workflow at IIT Guwahati:

StepAuthorityRequirement
1st signatureAll Co-AuthorsSign the declaration form
2nd signatureDean of Academic ResearchHoI endorsement; sign with office seal/stamp
6. Documents Checklist
  • Acceptance letter or email from the journal (PDF)
  • APC invoice / proforma invoice from publisher addressed to INFLIBNET Centre (PDF)
  • Completed and signed Declaration of Author's Contribution (downloaded from ONOS portal, signed by all authors and Dean of Academic Research — scanned PDF)
  • Institutional email ID (@iitg.ac.in) for OTP verification
  • ORCID ID (if available — strongly recommended)
  • AADHAAR-registered name of all IIT Guwahati authors
Note: After uploading, the Nodal Officer at Lakshminath Bezbaroa Central Library will verify and approve your application on the ONOS admin portal.
7. Liability — Important Note

Authors shall be personally liable to return the entire amount of APC charges paid by ONOS, in addition to other administrative/legal action, if any of the following is found:

  • The article is retracted by the journal.
  • APC is paid by any other national (government or private) or international/multilateral institution, agency, or government.
  • The APC is shown as a component in any project grant or funding.

In such cases, the Institute will recover the amount from the author as per the endorsement signed by the Dean of Academic Research.

8. Quick Reference
ONOS APC Portalonos.gov.in/apc
ONOS APC Support Portalonos.gov.in/apc-support
Check Eligible JournalsJournal List (this site) or onos.gov.in/APCTitles
ONOS APC Guidelines (Official)Download PDF ↗
ONOS APC Help Manual (Official)Download PDF ↗
ONOS Email Supportapcsupport@onos.gov.in
ONOS Phone Support+91-79-2326 8246
Lakshminath Bezbaroa Central Library, IIT Guwahatilibrarian@iitg.ac.in
Institute Code (ONOS)U-0053
IIT Guwahati Signing Authority (HoI)Dean of Academic Research
Payment Processing Time~15–20 working days