The Royal Society has confirmed that its eight subscription journals will be published as open access in 2026 under its Subscribe to Open (S2O) strategy, supported by libraries. As a result, research published in journals including Proceedings of the Royal Society and Philosophical Transactions will be freely accessible to researchers and readers worldwide.
Article publishing charges (APCs) for researchers publishing open access will be removed for the Subscribe to Open journals, aligning with open access mandates from research funding bodies. Subscribe to Open is described as a cost-effective mechanism that enables publishers to transition to full open access through continued support from libraries and international subscribers.
The transition represents a development in the Society’s 360-year history of scientific publishing and in its ongoing efforts to make research in its journals open and accessible. The last ten years of research will become free to read and access for all.
Subscribers will receive access to an additional 20 years of content for the journals to which they subscribe, while retaining perpetual access to the years already purchased. The Royal Society will repeat its Subscribe to Open (S2O) offer in subsequent years while continuing to work with subscribers and consortia to establish Read and Publish agreements. These agreements provide a tailored open access model that removes charges to read and publish across all Society journals while supporting financial sustainability over the long term.
The Royal Society Open Access Equity scheme will continue to support researchers from more than 100 low- and middle-income countries by automatically waiving article processing charges for publishing in Royal Society Open Science and Open Biology.
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