The Royal Society has reported an increase in the proportion of open-access articles published in its journals, rising from 66% in 2023 to 71% in 2024. As the UK’s national academy of science, the Royal Society remains committed to open access and open science, aiming to maximize the dissemination and reuse of research outputs.
The expansion of Transformative Agreements, which provide free access to journal content and enable authors at participating institutions to publish open-access without fees, has contributed to this growth. In 2024, over 400 institutions participated in Read & Publish agreements, while more than 100 low- and middle-income countries benefited from the Royal Society Open Access Equity scheme. Despite this progress, different publishing markets continue to evolve at varying rates, and there remains ongoing interest in covering open-access publication costs through article processing charges (APCs).
In 2021, the Royal Society committed to transitioning its journals to open access, joining Plan S’s Transformative Journals program and contributing data to the Journal Comparison Service. Over the three-year period concluding at the end of 2024, four journals—Proceedings A, Proceedings B, Interface, and Biology Letters—demonstrated a steady increase in open-access publishing:
Journal OA in 2021 OA in 2022 OA in 2023 OA in 2024
• Biology Letters 25% 47% 57% 57%
• Journal of the
Royal Society Interface 49% 57% 66% 64%
• Proceedings of the
Royal Society A 27% 40% 47% 51%
• Proceedings of the
Royal Society B 42% 51% 60% 63%
Across its ten journals, the Royal Society has observed an accelerated increase in open-access publication since 2020, reflecting broader shifts in scholarly publishing models. Data from 2022 highlights the advantages of open-access publishing. Articles published under open access received, on average, 100% more citations and 116% more downloads compared to subscription-based articles. Additionally, 99 of the top 100 articles ranked by Altmetric score in 2022 were published as open access (data recorded January 2024).
The Royal Society plans to further expand its Transformative Agreements and explore opportunities in new markets. 2025 marks the 360th anniversary of the Society’s publishing activities, providing a moment to assess its open-access progress and set priorities for future developments.
As part of these efforts, the Royal Society is currently conducting a comprehensive review of the future of STEM publishing. The findings will be presented in summer 2025 at a dedicated event, followed by a policy document outlining key insights and recommendations. The outcomes will guide ongoing discussions on the evolution of STEM publishing both in the UK and globally.
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