PLOS and the University of South Carolina announce APC-free Open Access publishing agreement

The University of South Carolina and the Public Library of Science (PLOS) today announced a three-year Open Access agreement that allows researchers to publish in PLOS journals[1] without incurring article processing charges (APC). This partnership brings together two organizations that believe researchers should be able to access content freely and make their work available publicly, regardless of their access to funds.

“The evidence is undeniable — open research enables the convergence of disciplines that drives scientific innovations,” said Amie Freeman, University Libraries Assistant Head of Acquisitions and Scholarly Communication. “This agreement with PLOS gives our researchers more avenues to provide their work to the public, and, in doing so, increases readership and opportunities for societal impact.” 

Researchers  from the University of South Carolina will have unlimited opportunity to publish over three years and will not be charged any APCs. This agreement furthers PLOS’ mission of making open access publishing available to all while ensuring that its journals include research from authors representing a diverse array of disciplines, career stages and geographies.  

“The agreement with the University of South Carolina is yet another step in our goal of empowering authors who want to publish their research openly,” said Roheena Anand, Executive Director of Global Publishing Development & Sales at PLOS. “This agreement demonstrates our effort to build a truly ‘open to read, open to publish’ environment for authors as well as our commitment to our library partners.”