The Company of Biologists has offered Open Access publishing options since 2004 and two of its five journals are already fully Open Access. The other three journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology – were the very first ones to be awarded Transformative Journal status by Plan S.
The Transformative Journal strategy signals clearly the journals’ commitment to move towards full Open Access, while a transition period allows them to provide publishing options that support all authors through this change in the publishing landscape.
Transformative Journals proactively champion Open Access publishing and have Open Access growth targets. Over the 2021-2024 transition period, the three journals aim to grow the proportion of Open Access research content by at least 5% year-on-year in absolute terms. For 2021, these targets were not only met, but they were exceeded, with Development’s Open Access research content growing by around 10%, Journal of Cell Science by around 12% and Journal of Experimental Biology growing by around 15%.
This Open Access growth was driven by Read & Publish agreements, which allow corresponding authors at participating institutions to publish Open Access Research Articles without paying a publication fee. Over 400 institutions in over 30 countries are currently participating in the Company of Biologists’ Read & Publish Open Access initiative.
