Revised guidelines will smooth transition to open access

Jisc welcomes the release of the revised implementation guidance for ‘Plan S’ from the cOAlition S funders.

The guidance, to help form funders’ policies on open access (OA) to their funded research, builds on its previous release and has taken note of extensive feedback from researchers, institutions, funders and publishers.

A welcome clarification

Bill Hubbard, deputy head of scholarly communications support and director of the centre for research communications, Jisc, said:

“This is a very welcome clarification to the original proposal. It has accepted a revised timescale for implementation through to 2021, and has re-emphasised the importance of OA repositories as a fundamental part of the OA landscape going forward.

“The three routes for OA compliance that it clearly lays out – OA repositories, OA publication, and accepting temporary transition arrangements for some publications – are a practical way forward that recognises the existing repository infrastructure and also lays the ground for the future publication landscape.”

Bill continues:

“We welcome the continued focus on achieving full and immediate OA as swiftly and as cost-effectively as possible. We will continue to enhance our own services to support members in complying with Plan S-based OA policies.”

Sustainable and transformative

Liam Earney, director of licensing, Jisc, notes the commitment to time-limited, affordable and sustainable transformative agreements as a tool to effect this swift transition to full and immediate OA. Liam adds:

“Building on our existing work in these areas, we look forward to working with cOAlition S and continuing our work with all publishers to put affordable, sustainable and transparent transformative agreements in place. We welcome the support for a diversity of business models, which we see as crucial to supporting a well-functioning market.”