Read and publish deals ‘drive increase in OA research content’
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‘Read and publish’ agreements have led to a significant increase in the proportion of open access research content in hybrid subscription journals, according to the Company of Biologists.
More than 400 institutions in 34 countries are now participating in the organisation’s Read and Publish Open Access initiative, with agreements signed with library consortia in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Spain, the UK and the USA. The Company of Biologists has also signed an agreement with EIFL (Electronic Information for Libraries), which enables researchers in 30 developing and transition economy countries to publish open access articles in its hybrid journals without paying an article processing charge (APC).
In 2021, OA research content increased by 10 per cent in Development, 12 per cent in Journal of Cell Science and 15 per cent in Journal of Experimental Biology. This meant that all journals exceeded the transformative journal target for OA growth of 5 per cent. From 2022, institutions can also choose to include the fully OA journals, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open, in their read and publish agreements.
Claire Moulton, publisher at The Company of Biologists, said: ‘We have a long-standing commitment to OA and a track record of innovation. We were one of the first not-for-profit publishers to offer cost-neutral and uncapped read and publish agreements and our journals were the first from any publisher to be afforded transformative journal status.
‘Together, these initiatives are already producing great results. Corresponding authors at over 400 institutions across five continents can now publish OA research articles without paying an APC and this has helped us to exceed our transformative journal targets in 2021. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our library partners and authors to increase the proportion of OA research content in our hybrid journals further and to meet the ambitious growth targets we have set ourselves in 2022 and beyond.’
