Publishers fully committed to Open Access transition

"Academic publishers want to make the transition to Open Access (OA) a reality as comprehensively and rapidly as possible and see transformative agreements as vital to this process, according to a new independent report published today. 

The report, authored by Dr Michael Jubb, emphasises the integral role agreements between academic publishers and institutions will play and also outlines the key areas where publishers remain concerned about the impact of the transition to OA.

Publishers, librarians and researchers contributed to conversations around three central themes in the report:

• Green OA and embargo periods;
• Licensing requirements; and
• Hybrid journals.

The report, Evidence to inform a response to the UKRI review of Open Access policies, will be submitted to UK Research and Innovation in contribution to its forthcoming consultation on UK OA policy. It also reflects on the Plan S initiative for OA science publishing announced by Science Europe in 2018.

In the report’s conclusions, Dr Michael Jubb writes: 

“There has been a noticeable change in the tone of publishers’ discussions about the future of scholarly publishing. Publishers want to make the transition to OA a reality as comprehensively and rapidly as possible; and they see the transformation of hybrid journals through the kinds of agreements now being put in place as the key viable route to a full transition.

“But they are clear that such a transition cannot be achieved as quickly as Plan S suggest; and that some key aspects of the Plan S requirements, particularly those relating to Green OA with zero embargoes and a CCBY licence, are simply unacceptable.” ..."