Open Access Expert Rob Johnson Dissects “Plan S” on Copyright Clearance Center “Pop-Up” Webinar

Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), a leader in advancing copyright, accelerating knowledge, and powering innovation, hosted a pop-up webinar in advance of Frankfurt Book Fair “ Get Smart About Plan S “ featuring Open Access (OA) expert Rob Johnson, founder and director of the UKs Research Consulting on Tuesday, 2 October 2018.

Johnson offered a 30-minute crash course full of details and insights about one of the most important developments in OA publishing since the Finch Report. Announced just weeks ago, Plan S is an initiative of 12 European national research funding organizations known as cOAlition S. It puts pressure on OA publishing business models by capping article fees, ending embargoes, and withdrawing support for hybrid OA journals.

The key message that the coalition is giving is that after 1 January 2020, any results, any publications, funded by these bodies must be compliant open access journals or compliant open access platforms, said Johnson. Thats the headline principle, and thats very soon, and thats a really radical move.