Plan S the Present and Future of Open Access Publishing

Abstract

Introduction: This editorial is based on a concise introduction to the basics of open access, describing what it is and showing that it is easy, fast, inexpensive, legal, and a beneficial form of academic publishing. The Internet lets us share perfect copies of our work with a worldwide audience at virtually no cost. Working in “open access” means: digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview about Plan S and its significance for open access publishing.

Methods: An analysis of relevant literature, sources from the internet and published literature, personal experience and obser-vations of the author.

Findings: Formerly, scholars have written peer-reviewed journal articles for impact, not for money, and are free to consent to open access without losing revenue. Open access is beneficial for authors and readers of research. Plan S is an initia-tive to drive wider adoption of open access publishing which was launched in 2018 by cOAlition S, an internation-al consortium of organisations who fund or carry out research. The first and main objective was to require that, from 2021, publicly funded research must only be published in journals or on platforms on an open access basis without embargo.

Conclusion: There are 10 principles of Plan S covering the way in which all stakeholders should work together towards an op-timal open access future, drive service standards, promote greater transparency around costs and charges, and more fairly assess the merits of research outputs.

Keywords: Plan S, cOAlition S, open access, journals, academic publishing