BioOne, the leading non-profit aggregator in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences, has announced that 71 titles from 54 independent publishers will participate in its Subscribe to Open (S2O) pilot, set to begin in January 2026. This marks the largest collective effort of independent publishers under a single S2O initiative to date.
The announcement follows a year of careful analysis and collaboration with BioOne's publisher community, ensuring that the selected titles are exclusively available through BioOne Complete. Among the participating titles, this pilot cohort will feature the first S2O titles published from countries including Japan, Brazil, China, and Kenya, expanding the global reach of the initiative.
BioOne Complete will continue to function as an integrated collection that includes subscribed, S2O, and gold open access (OA) titles, providing users with a comprehensive resource for their research needs. In preparation for the pilot, BioOne plans to collaborate closely with library and consortia partners throughout 2025, ensuring a smooth rollout for the 2026 volume year. Notably, partnerships are already being established, such as the California Digital Library's commitment to multi-year licenses that encompass the S2O pilot years, demonstrating strong institutional support for the initiative.
As BioOne moves forward with the S2O pilot, it aims to enhance accessibility to critical research in the biological sciences while supporting the independent publishing community's efforts to maintain sustainable models of scholarly communication. This initiative is set to pave the way for increased collaboration and innovation within the scholarly publishing landscape.
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