The Microbiology Society and the Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee (JULAC) has announced a transformative agreement that will pave the way for open access publishing and extensive research access. This groundbreaking collaboration, set to begin in 2023, will enable affiliated researchers from six universities to publish an unlimited number of Open Access (OA) articles in hybrid and fully OA titles while enjoying full read access to the Society's journals portfolio.
JULAC has long been committed to promoting Open Scholarship and embracing cost-saving measures for their institutions. Their unwavering dedication is evident in their Position Statement on Open Scholarship. Flora Ng, Chair of JULAC and CIO/University Librarian at The University of Hong Kong, emphasizes the importance of libraries supporting researchers in making their work openly accessible. She sees the agreement with the Microbiology Society as a concrete example of such support.
The Microbiology Society's Publish and Read model has gained significant momentum since its launch in 2020, empowering organizations and researchers to actively participate in and reap the benefits of OA publishing. Key features of this model include: Unlimited OA publishing: Any article published in Society journals with a corresponding author from a Publish and Read institution will automatically be made available as OA; and Unlimited usage: Researchers, students, and faculty members affiliated with Publish and Read institutions will have unrestricted access to the entire Society content archive, dating back to 1947, facilitating reading and text and data mining endeavors.
This transformative agreement underscores the commitment of both the Microbiology Society and JULAC to foster a more open and collaborative research environment. By removing barriers to accessing and publishing scientific knowledge, this partnership will accelerate the progress of microbiology research and benefit the wider scientific community.
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