In July, West Virginia University Libraries began a partnership with the Public Library of Science (PLOS) to provide researchers with the opportunity to publish, free of processing charges, in any of their Open Access titles over the next three years.
PLOS is a nonprofit, Open Access publisher with a suite of 12 influential Open Access journals across all areas of science and medicine. Open Access refers to free, immediate and permanent online access to digital full-text scientific and scholarly material, primarily research articles published in peer-reviewed journals.
“Investment in open access initiatives is one of the WVU Libraries’ five collection funding priorities. This PLOS agreement is another significant step forward,” said Beth Royall, past-chair of the WVU Libraries Collections Advisory Committee.
Article processing fees (APCs) for Gold Open Access or Hybrid Open Access journals typically range from $1,200-$2,700. PLOS’s least expensive APC is $800 (registered research reports in “PLOS ONE”) and their most expensive is $5,300 (“PLOS Biology” or “PLOS Medicine”).
In 2021, PLOS signed an agreement with the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) and NorthEast Research Libraries (NERL) to participate in PLOS’ three innovative publishing models.
This three-year agreement provides CRL- and NERL-affiliated institutions the option to pay a flat fee that gives their researchers unlimited publishing privileges in PLOS journals at no additional cost.
WVU Libraries is a CRL member and has chosen to invest in this Open Access opportunity.
“CRL and NERL are thrilled to partner with PLOS to find innovative models between research libraries and nonprofit publishers to make scholarly publishing and research open and equitable for the benefit of all,” said Thomas Padilla, Senior Director of Collections, Technology, and Partnerships at CRL.
Since the PLOS platform launched in 2006, WVU researchers have published more than 500 articles in its journals, with more than 200 in the last five years alone.
“PLOS ONE” is the first multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal to focus on rigorous research and ethics rather than perceived impact.
A complete list of PLOS publications is available here.
WVU authors may submit their research articles to any PLOS journal. If the article is accepted for publication within the next three years, no article processing charge will be incurred.
A primary advantage for authors who make their articles openly accessible is that their impact is maximized because of a wider audience. Because there are limited copyright and licensing restrictions on open-access articles, anyone with Internet access may read, download, copy, and/or distribute them.
WVU Libraries additionally has a Read & Publish Agreement with Cambridge University Press and reduced APCs for several other journals. You can learn more by visiting this link: library.wvu.edu/initiatives/open-access.
