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Why do cOAlition S funders not fund hybrid Open Access?

Plan S is part of a wider open science movement, looking to accelerate the transition to providing research results in Open Access. Hybrid OA (i.e., OA option within a subscription journal) has been part of that transition towards full OA.

  • One reason cOAlition S funders do not support the hybrid model is the reality of double payments, where a single journal provides the publisher with a revenue stream both from full subscriptions as well as from APCs.
  • Another reason is that although hybrid journals were perceived as a bridge, by which publishers could move their model away from subscriptions and toward open access, the reality is that this has not happened. In short, hybrid journals have demonstrably failed as a viable transitioning strategy toward full Open Access. After more than a decade, cOAlition S funders have seen little evidence of this transition to full OA actually occurring for these titles. cOAlition S funders require a clearly defined end to hybrid status to ensure a full transition to OA, so that the partial transition resulting from hybrid does not continue indefinitely.
  • So far, publication charges for hybrid OA articles have been higher than charges for OA articles in fully OA journals. cOAlition S funders are keen to make prices more transparent and to keep charges to a sustainable level for the future.
  • cOAlition S will fund publication charges in journals that offer an OA option until 31st Dec 2024 providing the journal is part of a transformative arrangement. cOAlition S funders will not pay for OA publication via an OA option within a subscription journal (i.e., hybrid via a transformative arrangement) beyond 31st December 2024. Transformative arrangements are expected to be temporary transitional solutions towards full OA, and must move to full OA for cOAlition S funds to continue to be used to pay publishing charges for these journals from 2025.

See also: ‘Why hybrid journals do not lead to full and immediate Open Access