The American Physical Society (APS) has announced a partnership with Research4Life to share its journals with researchers from non-profits in over 115 countries, territories, and refugee camps at no cost. The Society will also cover article publication charges for new submissions from scientists belonging to these eligible groups beginning Jan. 1, 2024.
As the scientific publishing industry transitions to open access models, the question remains: how do publishers ensure equity for those with limited resources and institutional support?
By joining Research4Life, APS has addressed this challenge and enabled subscription access for all of the Society’s journals to those at teaching hospitals, universities, and national non-governmental organizations in lower and middle-income countries that are registered with Research4Life. Backed by five United Nations programs, Research4Life supports equitable, online, free or low-cost access to academic and professional peer-reviewed content from over 200 international publishers.
Partnering with Research4Life reflects APS’s mission, vision, and values. These values — which center around equity, inclusion, and advocacy — are also reflected in other APS initiatives that connect the global physics community, including tiered registration pricing for the Society’s March and April Meetings. Moreover, APS’s support for Research4Life advances the platform’s goal to provide equitable access to scientific publishing in the Global North and South.
Beyond providing subscription access, APS has also expanded its previous guidelines for article publication charges (APCs). APS will cover the APCs for researchers at institutions across lower and middle-income countries. Moreover, the process will be automated. Eligible authors of papers submitted after Jan 1, 2024, will not have to request APC waivers, removing another barrier in the process.
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