The Yale University Library has signed two new agreements to allow Yale-affiliated authors to publish their articles in any of PLOS’ open access journals without paying article processing charges (APCs).
PLOS is a non-profit, open access publisher publishing seven popular scientific and medical journals. Last year Yale authors published over 100 articles in PLOS journals, with APCs of up to $3,000 per article. These author-paid APCs will be removed and changed with annual fees paid by the library, effective January 1, 2021. The authors will retain copyrights for their research.
Open access publishing has gained popularity since the 1990s, when peer-reviewed journals began publishing online with a traditional business model of limited access and high subscription fees. Open access developed as an alternative to make new research swiftly and extensively available with financial support from researchers. However, funding for APCs from academic departments, government, and other research funders has varied widely, with some authors having to pay from personal funds.
The library agreements will remove APCs for Yale authors publishing in PLOS Biology, PLOS Medicine, PLOS One, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Pathogens, PLOS Genetics, and PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, as well as in any new PLOS publications launched during the contract term. The initial agreements are for three years and will be funded through Yale Library’s Collection Development department with support from the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library.
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