McMaster University Libraries are partnering with the Public Library of Science (PLOS) in a pilot project to remove financial barriers to publishing research. The two-year project will see the elimination of author/article processing charges (APCs) in all PLOS journals.
Usually, authors incur APCs to cover the cost associated with making their article publicly available for free in open access journals. Under the new initiative, McMaster faculty, staff, and students will not need to worry about the financial implications of publishing in a PLOS journal from Feb 1, 2023 through Jan 31, 2025.
McMaster University Libraries is dedicated to innovative open scholarship opportunities, and as such, will cover the cost of the two-year flat fee, based on the university’s current publication output, to allow for unlimited PLOS publishing opportunities by McMaster authors. Library staff will evaluate the effectiveness of the agreement and project future cost implications at the end to determine the project’s sustainability.
The elimination of APCs for corresponding authors will expand the publishing opportunities for all researchers regardless of their career stage, or whether they have research grants or departmental funding. It will also benefit authors who did not factor APCs into their grants or who do not have additional funds to publish in an open access journal.
Authors associated with the university should use their McMaster email address (@mcmaster.ca) when submitting an article to ensure streamlined access to this new opportunity.
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