Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3) has announced that five universities and a consortium have signed an expression of interest to re-direct their current subscriptions to high energy physics (HEP) journals to SCOAP3. SCOAP3 is an international consortium that aims to provide free access to major particle physics journals worldwide.
The new SCOAP3 partners are Grand Valley State University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Washington University in Saint Louis and the California State University Systemwide Electronic Information Resources consortium (CSU-SEIR). The CSU-SEIR signed the expression of Interest on behalf of twenty three campus libraries of the California State University.
Libraries and consortia in the US have so far collectively pledged a total of $ 2.3 million /year to SCOAP3. Pledges for an additional $ 1.2 million/year would cover the expected US contribution to SCOAP3. Worldwide, 61 percent of the SCOAP3 budget envelope has been pledged by partners in 21 countries.
