Plan S – The Facts You Should Know

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If you’re in the open access/scholarly communications field, you’ve probably heard of something called “Plan S.“ 

This past week, Plan S was a big topic of discussion due to the fact that some big changes to the Plan have taken place. But first, for those who are brand new to the idea of Plan S, let’s take a few steps back and just talk about what it is.

I am no expert on Plan S – (or many other things for that matter!) – but I am a learner, and I can share what I’ve learned so far following the development of Plan S and cOAlition S. Here it goes:

cOAlition S was launched on September 4, 2018. It is a group of research funders that have committed to implementing Plan S. The main principle of Plan S is as follows:

“With effect from 2021, all scholarly publications on the results from research funded by public or private grants provided by national, regional and international research councils and funding bodies, must be published in Open Access Journals, on Open Access Platforms, or made immediately available through Open Access Repositories without embargo.” – www.coalition-s.org

Keep in mind that this is the newly revised principle – it is only since Friday of last week that the year 2021 was there – it had previously been 2020.

So who does Plan S apply to? Plan S requires that any scientific publications that result from research funded by public grants must be published immediately in the appropriate open access venues. So far, there are 16 funders in 13 different countries that have joined the cOAlition (Rabesandratana, 2019). Most of the countries are European, and so far no funders from the United States have signed on.

Why are scientific publications the focus? Scientific research builds upon previous scientific research. If the research is not being openly shared, but is behind a paywall, this limits current and future researchers from doing their own best research. The hindering of scientific research can delay or limit important discoveries that benefit people all around the world (think in terms of medicine or cures for diseases!)

Plan S will continue to be interesting as we watch it play out over time. Will it actually reach its goal by January of 2021? Will more countries and funders sign on to join the cOAlition? Stay tuned …

*cover photo licensed with a CC 4.0 Attribution, taken from www.coalition-s.org