Karger Publishers is strengthening its Open Access (OA) portfolio for 2025 by expanding its Subscribe to Open (S2O) program, which enables journal content to be made freely accessible if sustainability thresholds are met through library subscriptions.
Now in its third year, the initiative has successfully transitioned three journals to Open Access for 2025: Developmental Neuroscience, which has once again met its subscription target, along with European Addiction Research and Neurodegenerative Diseases, which have newly qualified for the model.
Under S2O, journals transition to Open Access only if a sufficient number of institutional subscribers renew their commitments for a given year. This approach allows publishers to maintain financial stability without imposing Article Processing Charges (APCs) on authors. If the required subscription levels are not reached, the content remains behind a paywall, though individual articles can still be published as Open Access through a paid option.
Beth Bayley, Open Science Manager at Karger, underscored the significance of exploring alternative OA models that remove financial barriers for authors. She noted that high APCs often limit global accessibility to critical research, making programs like S2O a valuable mechanism for expanding equitable access to scientific knowledge.
Click here to read the original press release.
