Society Publishers’ Coalition statement on Plan S

As many of our members will already be aware, a coalition of research funders, initially all based in Europe, have joined together to create Plan S, aimed at accelerating the transition to open access. “After 1 January 2020 scientific publications on the results from research funded by public grants provided by national and European research councils and funding bodies, must be published in compliant Open Access Journals or on compliant Open Access Platforms”. cOAlition S subsequently announced its guidance on the implementation of Plan S in November 2018 and requested feedback on this.

The BES responded to this request in collaboration with the Society Publishers’ Coalition – a group of likeminded, not-for-profit learned societies who publish journals as part of our charitable objectives and who re-invest the surplus from our publishing into the disciplinary communities we serve. Members of this group share the common ambition of an orderly and sustainable transition to open scholarship, ensuring any future system is fit for purpose for all stakeholders. You can read our joint response here.

If you have any comments on this, please contact our Director of Publishing, Catherine Hill.