PLOS Expands Footprint in the European Union with a Publishing Agreement in Germany

Note: PLOS issued the following press release on December 14.

SAN FRANCISCO —The Public Library of Science (PLOS) is pleased to announce an agreement with Sachsen Consortia to facilitate unlimited publishing across all 12 PLOS titles with no fees for researchers. This agreement encompasses PLOS’ three innovative publishing models, ensuring researchers from nine Saxon institutions benefit from frictionless, fee-free publishing with PLOS. This agreement represents PLOS’ second major consortia deal in the European Union.

“We are excited to expand our consortia footprint to Germany with these new publishing models, which enable more researchers to participate in advancing Open Science,” said Sara Rouhi, Director of Strategic Partnerships for PLOS. “Sachsen Consortia share our commitment to make scholarly publishing and research open and equitable for the benefit of all.”

“A central goal of open access transformation is to enable an uncomplicated publication process with transparent and fair conditions, taking into account the rules of good scientific practice”, said Karolin Bove, Head of Collection Development and Metadata Department, Saxon State and University Library Dresden.

All PLOS journals are underpinned by existing – and new – institutional business models that move beyond the article processing charge (APC) to ensure more equitable and regionally appropriate ways to support Open Access publishing. PLOS’ institutional models are Community Action Publishing (CAP)[1], Flat Fees [2], and the Global Equity model[3].

Institutions participating in this agreement include , Technische Universität Dresden including University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Universität Leipzig including Universitätsklinikum  Leipzig, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, University of Technology Chemnitz, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences,  Dresden University of Applied Sciences, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau.

Members of Sachsen Consortia led by the Saxon State and University Library join a growing list of institutions including the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the University of California system, CRL and NERL, Jisc (including University College London, Imperial College London, University of Manchester) and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network among others to support their researchers through publishing deals with PLOS.

The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) recently honored PLOS as the 2021 co-winner for Innovation in Publishing for its Community Action Publishing model.

[1] Participating journals include PLOS Biology, PLOS Medicine and PLOS Sustainability and Transformation

[2] Participating journals include PLOS Digital Health, PLOS ONE, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Pathogens, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and PLOS Genetics

[3] Participating journals include PLOS Climate, PLOS Water, PLOS Global Public Health