The Company of Biologists is pleased to announce new Read & Publish Open Access agreements with the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), Canada and the Digital Resource Acquisition Alliance of Chinese Academic Libraries (DRAA) consortium, China.
Corresponding authors at participating institutions in Canada and China can publish an uncapped number of research articles immediately Open Access (OA) in our hybrid journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology) and our fully Open Access journals (Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open) without paying an article processing charge (APC). Researchers at participating institutions also benefit from unlimited access to our hybrid journals, including their full archives dating back to 1853.
Claire Moulton, Publisher at The Company of Biologists, says:
“As a not-for-profit publisher dedicated to supporting the biological community worldwide, we have a long-standing commitment to Open Access publishing. Our journals were the first in the world to be awarded Transformative Journal status by Plan S and the success of our Read & Publish initiative has already driven a significant increase in Open Access research content in our hybrid journals. We welcome our new Read & Publish agreements with the OCUL and DRAA consortia and look forward to working together to promote the growth of Open Access publishing in the biological and biomedical sciences in both Canada and China.”
The Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL)
This is the Company’s first consortium agreement in Canada and is available to 21 member institutions. The five-journal agreement runs from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2026.
Shelly Turner, Head of Sales and Business Development at The Company of Biologists, says:
“We are delighted with our new partnership with the OCUL Consortium which will expand the readership of our content to a wider audience and will allow authors throughout Ontario to be able to publish fee-free Open Access research articles in all five of our journals.”
View participating institutions | Read the announcement online
Digital Resource Acquisition Alliance of Chinese Academic Libraries (DRAA)
DRAA is a large consortium in China and this agreement, which runs from 2024 to 2026, is available to several hundred member institutions. This is the Company’s first consortium agreement in China and Charlesworth, our representative, was influential in helping us establish this agreement.
Michael Evans, CEO, Charlesworth, says:
“Charlesworth is at the forefront of supporting authors and librarians in China by exploring transformational agreements tailored to the Chinese market. We are excited to be working with The Company of Biologists to deliver a new agreement with the DRAA consortia. This agreement, for the first time, gives libraries the flexibility to choose a transformative model that works best for them.”
Sarah Logan, Regional Sales Manager at The Company of Biologists, says:
“We are thrilled to announce a ground-breaking shift towards open science in China as the DRAA consortium becomes the first consortium to adopt our Read & Publish initiative. We are grateful to our exclusive agent, Charlesworth, for their invaluable contributions in bringing this agreement to fruition, and for their commitment to advancing open science within the DRAA consortium. By joining the DRAA consortium’s 5 journal Read & Publish initiative, libraries can empower their researchers to disseminate their research without any financial barriers to publishing Open Access. We encourage all DRAA consortium members to consider joining us in this exciting journey towards a more open and accessible future for research.”
