Two new agreements between DOAJ, the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and the Council of Atlantic Academic Libraries – Conseil des bibliothèques postsecondaires de l’Atlantique  (CAAL-CBPA), have been announced today. These agreements will provide a vital boost to the sustainability of key open access infrastructure, essential to the future of science and research in Canada and around the world.

CRKN has long been a strong supporter of DOAJ and encompasses seventy-nine academic libraries and five research institutions in Canada. CAAL-CBPA includes top tier research and teaching libraries in Atlantic Canada.

“Supporting community-driven initiatives such as DOAJ is a priority for CRKN as part of our open access strategy,” said Clare Appavoo, CRKN Executive Director. “We are, as always, pleased to contribute to the important work that DOAJ is doing to increase the usage and visibility of open access journals.”

“Through support of DOAJ as a key gateway to open access journals, CAAL-CBPA and its members are excited by this opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the advancement of open access as a means for enabling free and equitable access for all to research and scholarly materials”, said Cynthia Holt, Executive Director, CAAL-CBPA.

The agreements announced today allows for libraries connected with either consortium to support DOAJ. Canada is among the top 12 countries which support DOAJ.

“I am delighted that libraries at Canadian universities and colleges, research and teaching institutions now have the opportunity to strengthen DOAJ as an essential part of the open access eco system,” said Joanna Ball, Managing Director, DOAJ. “Support from the members of CRKN and CAAL-CBPA demonstrates the importance of DOAJ as an important open, global and trusted resource for open access publishing in Canada and around the globe.”

“Community over Commercialization” is the theme for this year’s International Open Access Week (October 23-29). This theme encourages a candid conversation about which approaches to open scholarship prioritize the best interests of the public and the academic community—and which do not. 

Adopted by its 193 Member States, the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science highlights the need to prioritize community over commercialization in its calls for the prevention of “inequitable extraction of profit from publicly funded scientific activities” and support for “non-commercial publishing models and collaborative publishing models with no article processing charges.” By focusing on these areas, we can achieve the original vision outlined when open access was first defined: “an old tradition and a new technology have converged to make possible an unprecedented public good.”

When commercial interests are prioritized over those of the communities that research seeks to serve, many concerning issues arise. Open Access Week provides an opportunity for individuals to discuss questions that are most relevant in their local context. These might include: What is lost when a shrinking number of corporations control knowledge production rather than researchers themselves? What is the cost of business models that entrench extreme levels of profit? When does the collection and use of personal data begin to undermine academic freedom? Can commercialization ever work in support of the public interest? What options for using community-controlled infrastructure already exist that might better serve the interests of the research community and the public (such as preprint servers, repositories, and open publishing platforms)? How can we shift the default toward using these community-minded options?

Selected by the Open Access Week Advisory Committee, this year’s theme provides an opportunity to join together, take action, and raise awareness around the importance of community control of knowledge sharing systems. Open Access Week 2023 will be held from October 23rd through the 29th; however, anyone is encouraged to host discussions and take action whenever is most suitable during the year and to adapt the theme and activities to their local context.

For more information about International Open Access Week, please visit openaccessweek.org. The official twitter hashtag for the week is #OAWeek.

Translations of this announcement in other languages can be found at openaccessweek.org. Graphics for this year’s Open Access Week theme are available at openaccessweek.org.

We are delighted to announce that we have signed an agreement with Missing Link Versandbuchhandlung eG to represent us in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Our Read & Publish Open Access (OA) initiative continues to go from strength to strength. Over 600 institutions in 41 countries are now participating, and this is helping to drive significant growth in OA publishing in our leading peer-reviewed hybrid journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology) and our fully OA journals (Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open).

We are excited about opportunities to increase our visibility and to expand our subscriptions and Read & Publish programme through our new partnership.

Klaus Tapken, Chairman, Missing Link Versandbuchhandlung eG says:

Rich Blount, Sales Manager, The Company of Biologists, says:

The Public Library of Science (PLOS) is pleased to announce an agreement with the University of Padua to facilitate unlimited publishing across all 12 PLOS titles with no fees for researchers. This agreement encompasses PLOS’ three innovative publishing models, ensuring researchers from the University of Padua to benefit from frictionless, fee-free publishing with PLOS. This agreement represents another in the Europe, following agreements in Germany, Sweden, Ireland and the UK (Jisc).

“We are excited to expand our footprint in Italy with these new publishing models, which enable more researchers to participate in advancing Open Science,” said Sara Rouhi, Director of Strategic Partnerships for PLOS. “The University of Padua shares our commitment to make scholarly publishing and research open and equitable for the benefit of all.”

“In recent years, our university has implemented various policies aimed at making scientific research open and accessible. In accordance with an historical tradition of cultural openness and freedom, represented by our motto: ‘Universa Universis Patavina Libertas’, shared by scientists like Galileo Galilei, the University of Padua has identified one of its main strategic objectives as the support of open science and open access. The agreement with PLOS fits into that same viewpoint and we are very pleased to be the first University in Italy to sign it,” said prof. Monica Salvadori, Vice Rector of Historical and Cultural Heritage and President of the Open Science Commission, University of Padua. “We are sure that our researchers will now have more opportunities to lead scientific advancements in a more open and reliable way.”

All PLOS journals are underpinned by institutional business models that move beyond the article processing charge (APC) to ensure more equitable and regionally appropriate ways to support Open Access publishing. PLOS’ institutional models are Community Action Publishing (CAP)[1], Flat Fees [2], and the Global Equity model[3].

“I was thrilled to have collaborated on the very first agreement in Italy between the University of Padua and PLOS. This agreement allows the University of Padua to publish in all of PLOS’ journals till the end of the year,” said Barbara Valcelli, Accucoms Regional Sales Manager, Italy. “I was happy to have facilitated conversations between PLOS and University of Padua to reach this important agreement which will play a key role in making scientific research at the University of Padua open and accessible.”

The University of Padua joins a growing list of institutions including the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the University of California system, CRL and NERL, Jisc (including University College London, Imperial College London, University of Manchester), the Sachsen and TIB consortia’s in Germany,  and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network among others have decided to support their researchers through publishing deals with PLOS.

[1] Participating journals include PLOS Biology, PLOS Medicine and PLOS Sustainability and Transformation

[2] Participating journals include PLOS Digital Health, PLOS ONE, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Pathogens, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and PLOS Genetics

[3] Participating journals include PLOS Climate, PLOS Water, PLOS Global Public Health

PLOS Joins UN SDG Publisher’s Compact

Earlier this year, PLOS joined over 290 other publishers in signing the UN SDG Publisher’s Compact, an agreement to inspire action among publishers in advancing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by actively seeking and promoting scientific content related to the goals, as well as committing to sustainable actions across our business. 

The SDG Compact provides a framework for publishers to work towards a more sustainable future by seeking and promoting content that advances the SDGs, as well as taking steps to enhance sustainable business practices. This includes a range of activities from how we work with partners, to the opportunities we provide staff to take personal action.

Advancing the SDGs through Open and trusted research

A significant portion of the articles currently published in PLOS journals are applicable to at least one Sustainable Development Goal and we expect that percentage to grow in the coming years. As with the five new titles we launched in 2021, the SDGs will continue to influence the development of our portfolio and our work with research communities to seek and promote research critical to the health of our planet and its people. 

In addition to the content we publish, the ways in which we surface research and how we represent the broadest spectrum of researchers matter greatly to the success of these goals– and scholarly publishing more broadly. PLOS is working to eliminate financial barriers to Open Access publishing and partnering with research communities around the world to co-create more equitable solutions for sharing research and ensuring inclusive policies shape our journals. 

Through our commitment to Open Access and Open Science, we are helping researchers increase the real-world impact of their work by ensuring it can be shared, applied, and reused by anyone who needs it. That commitment extends to research artifacts such as data, protocols, and code that strengthen reproducibility and accelerate progress. 

Representing PLOS and the alignment of our goals with the SDG Publisher’s compact, we’re pleased to announce Becs Kirk, Publisher, Portfolio Development at PLOS and HESI fellow will act as a spokesperson for PLOS in coordinating our activities and sharing resources with other organizations.

Aligning as an organization

The strength of PLOS has always been the passionate individuals–including staff, the researchers to shape our journals, as well as the partners we work with–who are committed to transforming research communication in ways that build a more equitable foundation for knowledge-sharing.

We strive to live our values inside out, by creating a diverse, collaborative, and conscientious organization that allows these initiatives to flourish. To drive forward our efforts in advancing these goals, we’ll be appointing an SDG Steering Committee led by our CEO, Alison Muddit and drawing on the expertise of staff that have led our progress thus far in becoming a more sustainable and inclusive organization. More to come on this soon! 

To keep track of progress, research content, and initiatives at PLOS related to the SDGs we’re introducing a new section of our website where our communities can learn more about the work we’re doing. We’ll be sharing more updates in this space and on our website as we make progress towards these goals!