skip to content
 

"Plan S aims for full and immediate Open Access to peer-reviewed scholarly publications from research funded by public and private grants." 

What is Plan S and CoAlition S?

Plan S is an initiative for open access publishing that was launched in September 2018. The plan is supported by cOAlition S, an international consortium of research funders, which is committed to fulfiling the ten principles of Plan S. The cOAlition S funders have agreed to implement the principles in a coordinated way, including UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Trust. For a more detailed overview on key developments please visit the cOAlition S website.

The University's response

The University of Cambridge is committed to ensuring that our research, and the research that it publishes, is robust, reproducible, relevant and world changing. The dissemination of research to the widest possible audience of stakeholders, both within the UK and internationally, is fundamental to the mission of the University and its publisher, Cambridge University Press.  

  • On 8 February 2019 the University submitted its full response to cOAlition S on the implementation guidance for Plan S together with the accompanying appendices.
  • The University’s response to the consultation on transformative journals was sent to cOAlition S by the deadline of 6 January 2020.  
  • A group called Plan S and Journals Coordination Working Group was formed in the latter half of 2019.  It is led by Cambridge University Library, and reports to both the Open Research Steering Committee (ORSC) and Journals Coordination Scheme (JCS).

How does Plan S affect the Cambridge researcher community?

It is not known yet how each cOAlition S funder member will implement Plan S to reach the intended goal. Some cOAlition S members now have fully aligned policies (such as Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation), and researchers funded by them are required to make their work immediately open under a CC BY licence. cOAlition S have developed a journal checker, which provides an overview of what compliant publishing options are offered by journals. 

 

The University has open access publishing agreements with various journals. Cambridge researchers can now publish open access with no charge in journals that are part of “read & publish” or “transformative” agreements. In addition, the University has entered into some schemes and memberships with publishers to reduce the cost of publishing open access. 

Support

These pages will host relevant to Plan S information and documents for the University’s research community and advertise future events and training, when appropriate. 

If you have any questions regarding Plan S please email us. 

Last updated 18/02/2021