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A study to assess the impact of Plan S on the global scholarly communication ecosystem: an Invitation to Tender (ITT)

10/07/2023

— The invitation to tender is now closed for submissions —

The European Science Foundation-Science Connect (ESF-SC), on behalf of cOAlition S, is seeking to engage the services of a consultant to undertake a study that assesses the impact Plan S has had on the global scholarly communication ecosystem and facilitating the transition to full and immediate open access (OA).

In September 2018, a group of national research funding organisations, with the support of the European Commission, launched Plan S with one overarching target:

With effect from 2021, all scholarly publications reporting the results from research funded by public or private grants provided by national, regional and international research councils and funding bodies, must be published in Open Access Journals, on Open Access Platforms, or made immediately available through Open Access Repositories without embargo.

This goal was supported by 10 principles, and funders that supported these principles agreed to implement them in a coordinated way. In the five years since Plan S was first published, the 12 founding members (cOAlition S) are now 28 and the Plan S Principles have been turned into action.

To assess the impact Plan S has had on the global scholarly communication ecosystem – and facilitating research to be published Open Access – we are seeking to engage the services of an independent consultant to undertake this study.

Responding to this ITT

The Invitation to Tender document (accessible here) outlines the key questions this study must answer, the deliverables, and a project timeline. Contractors interested in applying for this study are required to use the response grid provided in Annex A (pages 5-7).  All applications should be sent to Nora Papp-Le Roy (npappleroy@esf.org) by 09.00 CEST on Monday, 4th September 2023.