After signing the Creative Commons license in the Sage Open Access Portal, if there is an APC to pay, the transacting author will be asked to assign a bill payer. At this stage, you will be asked who will pay the APC. There will either be 2/3 options:


1. I am the bill payer (yourself)

2. Choose a different bill payer 

3. A predetermined funding agency or institution (only available to some authors) 


Please select an option and then press 'Confirm Bill Payer'. Depending on your selection, you will progress onto the next steps. Please see below for further information about each option and the requirements related to each option.


1. I am the bill payer (yourself)

If you select yourself as the bill payer, you will be immediately taken on to confirm your billing details, preview the invoice and complete the APC payment. For more information, please see How do I raise an invoice and complete payment in the Sage Open Access Portal?


2. Choose a different bill payer 

  • If you select this option, you are nominating another or individual or institution to pay the APC. At this stage, you will be asked to enter the nominated bill payer's information (a name and email address). You also have the option to add a note for your nominated bill payer, if required, which they will see upon receiving the invitation.
  • Once you have entered this information, press 'Confirm Bill Payer and you will see this confirmation:
  • The nominated bill payer will then receive an email from the Sage Open Access Portal with the subject heading ‘You have been nominated as bill payer 10.XXXX/XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX’.
  • After this, the next steps are dependent on whether the nominated bill payer declines or accepts the invitation. 
    1. If your nominated bill payer accepts, you will be notified via email with the subject heading 'Open access transaction complete' and no further action is required. We will proceed to collect payment from the nominated bill payer. If you would like to check on whether your nominated bill payer has completed the APC payment, please see Have you received the APC payment?
    2. If your nominated bill payer declines, you will be notified via email by the Sage Open Access Portal (if the individual/institution left a reason for this it will be included in the email). You will then be required to log into the Sage Open Access Portal and assign another bill payer, which could be yourself or a different bill payer. The Sage Open Access Portal gives nominated bill payers 5 days to respond to a bill payer invitation request. After this period, the invitation will time out. If you would like to reassign the same nominated bill payer, please contact our Sage Open Access Customer Services team at openaccess@sagepub.com.


3. A predetermined funding agency or institution (only available to some authors) 

Some funders and institutions are set up with bill payer accounts in the Sage Open Access Portal. These are called Centralised Bill Payers. 

  • If the Corresponding Author's Ringgold ID matches with a registered Centralised Bill Payer account, the option to assign them as the payer will appear.
  • Once selected, your request will be sent to the Centralised Bill Payer and you will see this confirmation:
  • The Centralised Bill Payer will then receive an email from the Sage Open Access Portal with the subject heading 'You have been nominated as bill payer 10.XXXX/XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX':

  •  After this, the next steps are dependent on whether the Centralised Bill Payer declines or accepts the invitation to pay the APC.
    1. If the Centralised Bill Payer accepts, you will be notified via email with the subject heading 'Open access transaction complete' and no further action is required, we will proceed to collect payment from the Centralised Bill Payer. If you would like to check on whether the Centralised Bill Payer has completed the APC payment, please see Have you received the APC payment?
    2. If the Centralised Bill Payer declines, you will be notified via email and you will be required to log into the Sage Open Access Portal to assign another bill payer, this can be yourself or a different bill payer.


Please note, if you are choosing to act as bill payer, or selecting a bill payer, from China, the process differs slightly. Please see, How do I complete payment in the Sage Open Access Portal if I am based in China?


Contact Information

For further assistance, please contact the Open Access Customer Services team at openaccess@sagepub.com.