The Company of Biologists has confirmed the renewal of its Read & Publish Open Access agreement with Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) for the period 2027 to 2029.
Under the agreement, corresponding authors based in 33 developing and transition economy countries will continue to publish an unlimited number of Open Access articles without article processing charges. The arrangement applies to the company’s two fully Open Access journals, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open, as well as its hybrid journals, Development, Journal of Cell Science, and Journal of Experimental Biology. Researchers at participating institutions will also retain unlimited access to these journals and their archives, which extend back to 1853.
Britt‑Marie Wideberg, EIFL Licensing Programme Manager, noted that the partnership with The Company of Biologists began in 2020 and expressed satisfaction that it would continue. She emphasized that researchers would benefit from free access and Open Access publishing for another three years, and highlighted that access to the journal archive would further enrich the research experience.
Shelly Turner, Sales and Marketing Director at The Company of Biologists, stated that the renewal reflects the success of the partnership. She reported that engagement and usage of content across participating universities had increased by 53% over the past year, and that corresponding authors in eligible countries had been able to publish more articles without the burden of APC fees.
Eligible countries include Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Malawi, Maldives, Moldova, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, North Macedonia, Palestine, Senegal, Serbia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
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