Could libraries band together to ensure open access for all?

"More than 70 journals are trialling a publishing model called subscribe to open (S2O), in which libraries pay an annual subscription fee to make paywalled journals open access.

The trial, set to start next January, will run for three years if there is enough participation. It aims to make academic journals freely available online without charging authors or relying on donations. Fifty-four societies, museums and research institutions around the world have signed their journals up.

The model guarantees that a journal’s content will be free to access for one year, as long as enough libraries commit to paying an annual subscription fee. If there aren’t enough subscriptions to the journal, all of its content remains paywalled. This process repeats annually, which means that ongoing access depends on yearly participation by libraries. It’s not permanent open access, says Lauren Kane, chief executive of BioOne, the non-profit organization in Washington DC that is leading the pilot. “It is a conditional open access.”

Kane says this ‘all or nothing’ approach ensures that there is enough money to cover the publishing costs. The hope is that the system will allow smaller journals with limited funding to be open access...."