The Public Library of Science (PLOS) is pleased to announce a consortium agreement with Consorcio Colombia / Consortia facilitated by Accucoms, that allows joining member institutions to participate in PLOS’ three innovative publishing models across all 14 PLOS titles. The agreement provides researchers from affiliated institutions unlimited publishing privileges in PLOS journals without incurring fees. Eight Colombian institutions have joined the agreement in 2024 [1], and more institutions are expected to join in the following years.
“Consorcio Colombia is a collaborative work initiative with great recognition in Latin America and constantly seeks options to facilitate access to information and open access in the country. That is why it decided to sign an agreement with PLOS to facilitate the publication of the research community in one of the most important open access publishers in the world. With this, we hope to increase the visibility and academic impact of our research while promoting sustainable models of scientific communication,” said César Rendón, CEO of Consortia.
Mónica Cristancho, Library Director at Universidad El Bosque, one of the participating institutions in 2024, said, “Collaborating with PLOS, through the open access agreement with Consorcio Colombia, has been crucial in promoting the publications of researchers from Universidad El Bosque. Thanks to this partnership, our researchers have the opportunity to share their discoveries widely and accessibly, adhering to the fundamental principle of open access to scientific information. This not only democratizes knowledge, allowing anyone to freely access research findings, but also fosters global collaboration. Thus, this agreement is not only beneficial for our institution and our researchers, but also contributes to the advancement of science and the welfare of society at large.”
PLOS institutional business models such as Community Action Publishing (CAP) [2], Flat Fees [3], and Global Equity [4] ensure more equitable and regionally appropriate ways to support Open Access publishing.
“Our agreement with Consorcio Colombia will help to expand PLOS’ footprint in South America and provide equitable access to Open Science opportunities for researchers in the region,” said Roheena Anand, Executive Director of Global Publishing Development & Sales at PLOS. “Consorcio Colombia shares our intention of removing barriers for authors to publish Open Access and building business models which move journals toward a more equitable and fee-free form of publishing.”
“I am happy to have collaborated on the negotiation of a very first PLOS consortium agreement in Latin America. This agreement allows Colombian institutions to sign up for unlimited publishing in all PLOS journals without APC fees for their researchers, at a very accessible cost for the institutions. It is great to see that 8 institutions have already signed up in 2024, and I’m confident many more Colombian institutions will understand the benefits of this agreement and will join in the coming few years,” said Anouk Snijders, Commercial Manager Latin America, Accucoms.
The members of Consorcio Colombia join a growing list of institutions in Latin America, including UNAM, CINVESTAV, and INCMNSZ in Mexico and Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Peru among others, to support their researchers through unlimited publishing deals with PLOS.
The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) honored PLOS as the 2021 co-winner for Innovation in Publishing for its Community Action Publishing model.
