Stirling will be joining the three-year ‘Public Library of Science’ JISC negotiated Agreement enabling free uncapped open access publishing for our authors in five key journals:
Public Library of Science (PLOS) is a non-profit open access publisher, their journals comply with funder mandates and PLOS is actively working to increase alignment with Plan S requirements on price transparency and equitable waiver policies.
For the three years of the Agreement, the Library will pay a single annual flat-fee based on Stirling’s historic PLOS publishing from 2016-2019. The fee will remain the same each year for the length of the Agreement. Looking at our publishing patterns with PLOS during 2020 it is anticipated that the Agreement will result in a net saving whilst allowing our authors to publish for free via a streamlined workflow.
The only requirement is that the Stirling author is the corresponding author. All article types are covered by the Agreement and new article types and journals launched during the term of the agreement will be automatically included.
Eligible authors will be identified through PLOS’s submission system. As the agreement is for non-metered (uncapped) publishing no approval check is required and so administration is simplified for researchers and institutions. There will be no need for our authors to apply to Stirling’s APC Fund or inform the Library when publishing in these journals as the corresponding author.
The Agreement commences on 1st January 2021 and runs until 31st December 2023.
The University is a member of a number of agreements supporting the move to greater open access for our research, in cost efficient ways – see our Publisher memberships and discounts page.
Clare Allan
Senior Research Librarian