Jisc and the Public Library of Science (PLOS) today announced two three-year open access (OA) agreements that allow researchers to publish in PLOS journals without incurring article processing charges (APCs).

This is the first time that a large university consortium has provided collective agreements as an alternative to APCs at this scale. Jisc and PLOS will also collaborate on future data, metrics, and tools for institutions to evaluate OA publishing agreements. 

“Jisc has always been a priority partner, given its high profile, its large existing institutional account base with PLOS, and leadership role in the library community,”

said Sara Rouhi, director of strategic partnerships for PLOS.

“It’s always exciting to partner with a forward-leaning organisation whose values and priorities around open access and open science align with our own. We also look forward to sharing the fruits of this partnership with the broader community.”

Caren Milloy, Jisc’s director of licensing, adds:

“We are pleased to have reached these pioneering agreements with PLOS, which will make it easier for researchers to publish OA and offer affordability and sustainability to institutions. These collective action agreements have the potential to help shape the future of OA funding.” 

Under the flat-fee agreement, which begins on 1 January 2021, annual fixed prices will cover unmetered publishing in five PLOS journals1 for corresponding authors affiliated with participating Jisc institutions as well as custom reporting and collaboration on future reporting standards initiatives.

The PLOS Community Action Publishing agreement, facilitates unmetered publishing in PLOS’ two highly selective journals2 through a collective action model. Both corresponding and contributing authors affiliated with participating Jisc institutions are eligible. The model itself is predicated on cost recovery, capped margins, and redistributing revenues above target back to community members.

These agreements empower authors who want to participate in open access publishing, and support a diverse scholarly communication ecosystem for researchers and readers.