INRAE and BioOne have signed a three-year agreement under which the French research organization will participate in BioOne’s Subscribe to Open (S2O) pilot program from 2026 to 2028. The agreement is aimed at supporting sustainable and equitable scholarly communication while expanding open access to scientific research.
Under the agreement, INRAE scientists will retain reading access to the full BioOne Complete collection, which includes more than 230,000 articles in the biological sciences. At the same time, the arrangement contributes to BioOne’s efforts to transition participating journals toward open access through the S2O model.
BioOne’s Subscribe to Open pilot brings together 71 journals published by 54 societies, museums, and research organizations worldwide. The initiative represents the largest grouping of independent publishers participating under a single S2O offer to date. Through the pilot, current-year content from participating journals may be made openly available if sufficient subscription support is maintained.
The S2O model is designed as a conditional and collaborative approach to open access. When sustainability thresholds are met, current content is published open access while preserving subscription revenues that support scholarly publications. If those thresholds are not achieved, access to current-year content remains limited to subscribers.
Throughout the pilot period, BioOne Complete will operate as a mixed-model collection comprising 219 subscribed, S2O, and fully open access titles. Supporting institutions retain access to all current and backfile content across both S2O and gated journals, while broader access to current content depends on collective subscriber participation.
INRAE’s participation in the pilot is positioned as part of a broader commitment to bibliodiversity and the transformation of scientific communication toward greater openness and equity. The agreement also builds on an existing partnership between INRAE and BioOne, with both organizations emphasizing long-term sustainability for nonprofit publishers and libraries.
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