EMS Press, the publishing house of the European Mathematical Society (EMS), has announced a third consecutive year of full open access across all 22 of its Subscribe to Open (S2O) journals, after confirming that baseline sustainability thresholds have again been met. All articles published in the 2026 volumes will carry a CC BY 4.0 license, ensuring open access in perpetuity.
The publisher stated institutional usage has more than tripled since 2022, alongside growing engagement from institutions worldwide. EMS Press noted that the pace of additional improvements will continue to depend on participation levels from subscribing institutions, and that increased participation will be required to accelerate progress on developments the community needs.
As part of its 2026 program, EMS Press introduced a secondary Initiatives target intended to fund work beyond baseline sustainability, including improvements to accessibility. While the baseline target was achieved, the Initiatives target was not fully met, meaning some planned developments will proceed on a phased timetable.
The next milestone in the EMS Press’s accessibility program, focused on introducing ground-up formats that better support assistive technologies, is now scheduled for Q2–Q3 2026 for Groups, Geometry, and Dynamics and the Journal of Noncommutative Geometry. Rollout across the wider journal portfolio is expected to follow on a revised timetable.
To support these projects in future years, EMS Press stated it will review subscriber benefits to ensure a fair and sustainable balance between open access, future-facing developments, and the incentives that underpin the S2O model. Current subscriber benefits include access to more than 700 Online First articles, offering early access to peer-reviewed content ahead of issue publication.
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