17/06/2021
The ongoing transition of scholarly publishing to full and immediate Open Access is a process that requires all stakeholders to adapt.
Alignment amongst research funding organizations, publishers, and research performing organizations – with their research communities, their libraries and library consortia – is particularly needed to enable smaller independent publishers to transition to open access publishing models. These publishers are highly valued by the research community for their activities in promoting excellence in research, for the scholarly communication services they provide, and for the key role they play in ensuring a diverse, open scholarly publishing landscape.
Transformative arrangements – including Read & Publish and Subscribe to Open as well as other innovative models – can provide a scalable, sustainable, and revenue-neutral way for publishers to transition to full and immediate Open Access. However, to ensure that smaller independent publishers can do this, we must manage risks related to their size and scale.
We, the undersigned, will work together to minimize complexity and maximize efficiency and to support the transition of smaller independent publishers to sustainable, equitable, immediate Open Access publishing models.
If other organizations wish to sign this open statement, please contact info@coalition-s.org.
This statement is published in response to the independent report from Information Power, “How to enable smaller independent publishers to participate in OA agreements”, released on June 9, 2021. Related news: Open Access agreements with smaller publishers require active cross-stakeholder alignment, report says.