PLOS and Uppsala University Announce Publishing Deal

Uppsala University and the Public Library of Science (PLOS) today announced two 3-year publishing agreements that allow researchers to publish in PLOS journals without incurring article processing charges (APC). The Community Action Publishing (CAP) agreement enables Uppsala University researchers to publish fee-free in PLOS Medicine and PLOS Biology. The Flat fee agreement also allows them to publish in PLOS ONE and PLOS’ community journals[1]. These models shift publishing costs from authors to research institutions based on prior publishing history and anticipated future growth with PLOS.

“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Uppsala University, our first European flat fee customer, on two new models that allow Uppsala researchers to publish without APCs,” said Sara Rouhi, Director of Strategic Partnerships for PLOS.  “As one of the most prestigious university’s in the world, Uppsala is well-positioned to further the cause of equitable and barrier free open reading and publishing and we are delighted to join with them on this effort.”

PLOS’ Community Action Publishing (CAP) is PLOS’ effort to sustain highly selective journal publishing without Article Processing Charges for authors. More details about the model can be found here and here. PLOS’ Flat Fee model enables APC-free publishing with PLOS’ other five journals creating efficiency and reducing administrative overhead for managing gold APC funds. Uppsala University and PLOS will also collaborate on future data, metrics, and tools for institutions to evaluate Open Access publishing agreements.

The Uppsala University publishing deal continues the momentum for PLOS, following other agreements with the University of California system, Big Ten Academic Alliance, Jisc (including University College London, Imperial College London, University of Manchester) and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network among others.

[1] PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Genetics, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, and PLOS Pathogens.