De Gruyter is expanding its Subscribe-to-Open program DG2O, with plans to transform an additional 37 journals into open access by 2025.
Among the journals in the DG2O program that will switch to open access in the coming year are particularly renowned titles such as the Historische Zeitschrift, founded in 1859, the Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, first published in 1888, as well as esteemed periodicals committed to critical perspectives on socio-political questions such as Analyse und Kritik (founded in 1979) and feministische studien (founded in 1982).
With the expansion of the De Gruyter S2O program to include additional key humanities and social sciences titles, important research from disciplines that have so far been underrepresented in the move towards open access will be made freely available online to readers around the world. There will be no publication fees (APCs) for authors, making the model particularly fair and inclusive for researchers in disciplines where financial support for APCs is less established.
Initial analyses of the De Gruyter journals that have already been transformed into open access as part of DG2O show that they are read significantly more often and in significantly more countries worldwide since they have been opened.
The titles to be added in 2025 also include reputed De Gruyter science journals with a long heritage such as Zeitschrift für Kristallographie – Crystalline Materials (founded 1877) and Biological Chemistry (founded 1878).
Last year, De Gruyter was the first major academic publisher to announce Subscribe to Open as the central transformation model of its open access strategy. In 2023, 42% of De Gruyter’s total journal program was freely accessible online in open access. The inclusion of 37 additional titles in the DG2O program will increase the Subscribe to Open portfolio at De Gruyter to nearly 60 titles in 2025. In total, De Gruyter plans to gradually convert around 270 subscription journals to open access by 2028, using the Subscribe to Open model in close consultation with editors and societies.
“We are delighted to be taking another step towards realizing our full journal program transformation, and we are grateful for how libraries and consortia have been supporting our S2O program,” says Dr. Christina Lembrecht, Senior Manager Open Research Strategy at De Gruyter, adding: “It is encouraging to see that not only our S2O program is flourishing, but the model is also being used more and more internationally and the Subscribe to Open Community of Practice is growing steadily.”
“As editors of the Historische Zeitschrift, we are very pleased about this step towards accessibility,” say Prof. Julia Hillner and Prof. Andreas Fahrmeir, continuing: “We find it particularly important that the journal does not charge publication fees as before and thus remains accessible to authors regardless of their status in the academic system.”
