The Public Library of Science (PLOS) today announced an agreement with the Bibsam Consortium to participate in PLOS’ three innovative publishing models. This two-year agreement provides researchers from affiliated institutions with unlimited publishing privileges in PLOS journals without incurring fees.
Anna Lundén, Department Director, National Library of Sweden says “We are very pleased with the new publishing agreement between PLOS and participating organizations within the Bibsam Consortium covering costs for Swedish researchers to publish an unlimited number of Open Access articles in all PLOS journals. To sign publishing agreements with Open Access publishers is an important step in line with our action plan to advance Open Science.”
All PLOS journals are underpinned by institutional business models that move beyond the 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].
“The Bibsam Consortium agreement represents a new model for institutions to collaborate and invest equitably in our common interests in advancing Open Science,” said Sara Rouhi, Director of Strategic Partnerships for PLOS. “They share our commitment to building business models that will move researchers and journals toward a more equitable and barrier free form of publishing.”
Participating institutions include, Karolinska Institutet, Linköping University, Linnaeus University, Mälardalen University, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, University of Gothenburg, University of Gävle, Uppsala University and Örebro University.
The Bibsam Consortium join a growing list of institutions including the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries (CSAL), the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the University of California system, Jisc (including University College London, Imperial College London, University of Manchester), NorthEast Research Libraries (NERL) and the Center for Research Libraries, the Canadian Research Knowledge Network among others to support their researchers through publishing deals with PLOS.
The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) last year honored PLOS as the co-winner for Innovation in Publishing for its Community Action Publishing model.
[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
