More Unintended Consequences: How the Plan S Transformative Journal Route Favors Larger Incumbent Publishers - The Scholarly Kitchen

Let’s say you’re a small but progressive non-profit research society with a journal. You believe strongly in the principles of open access (OA), and largely agree with the goals of cOAlition S. You are working diligently toward “flipping” your journal to OA from its current subscription business model, but realize that doing this in a sustainable manner may take some time (particularly as new business models beyond the APC are just emerging). You have a significant number of authors with Plan S funding, so the Transformative Journal route to compliance seems like a good path to keep those authors contributing to the journal while you make your OA transition. But once you read the Transformative Journal reporting requirements, you will realize that this route is likely impossible for journals other than those from larger and wealthier publishers. Once again, a well-intentioned policy has created further inequities in scholarly communication.