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What is Plan S?

Plan S is an initiative to accelerate the transition of scholarly publishing to the open access publishing model where the published results of research which they had funded would be freely available without embargo. There are also longer-term ambitions in the plan to make further improvements to the conduct of scholarly publishing and the assessment of research and these are outlined in the 10 Principles of Plan S.

Who created Plan S?

Plan S was developed in 2018 by a group of national research funders (‘cOAlition S’) whose main objective was to ensure that the published results of research which they had funded would be freely available without embargo.

How does Plan S affect research authors—and how is BMJ helping authors comply?

To be compliant with Plan S, authors must choose one of three publication routes, each of which is supported by BMJ.

1) Publish in open access journals or platforms -  cOAlition S funders are happy for research they have funded to be published here, and to cover the open access charges involved. 

 

A third of BMJ’s journals are fully open access. In this model, authors pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) levied upon acceptance to make the article immediately available on publication. cOAlition S funders will continue to financially support APCs in open access journals. Browse our full list of open access journals.

2) Publish open access in a subscription journal under a transformative arrangement - cOAlition S funders are happy for research they have funded to be published in those subscription journals which have registered with cOAlition S their intention to fully transition to open access by 2025, and to cover the open access charges involved.

 

BMJ now has 36 journals accepted by cOAlition S as ‘Transformative’. These journals are committed to gradually transitioning all research content to open access. Learn more about Transformative Journals and browse the full list.

 

BMJ also offers research institutions ‘Read and Publish’ agreements. They remove the burden of publishing fees from individual authors, as well as providing read access to all existing and forthcoming BMJ journal content. Read more about our open access options.

3) Publish in subscription journals but also make the articles available in an open access repository - cOAlition S funders are content for research they have funded to be published in non-transformational subscription journals, but ONLY if it is also made available on an access basis elsewhere and will NOT cover any open access charges involved.

 

Read more about self-archiving options when you publish in a BMJ subscription journal.

 

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