The results of publicly funded research should be accessible to all. This is why Forte is part of cOAlition S, an international consortium of research funders working for open access to research publications. Together, we support the initiative Plan S.

What are Plan S and cOAlition S?

Plan S is an initiative for open access science publishing that was launched in 2018 by Science Europe, an association for European research funding organisations. The key goal of Plan S is that results from research funded by public grants must be published with immediate open access.

The Plan is supported by cOAlition S, an international consortium of research funders where Forte participates. Other Swedish members of cOAlition S are the Swedish research council Formas och Vinnova, Sweden’s innovation agency.

Why Plan S?

It is important that as many as possible have access to the results of research funded by public grants. However, a consequence of the current scientific publication system is that paywalls are withholding a substantial amount of research results from a large fraction of the scientific community and from society as a whole. The system also leads to researchers losing the copyright to their own publications and to publishers charging fees for redistribution of material from articles.

When will Plan S be implemented?

From 2021, Forte will implement the requirements of Plan S. This means that results from research that was granted funding in 2021 or later must be published with open access.

For funds granted by Forte up to and including 2020, results must be published with open access within no more than six months.

Forte’s guidelines for publication with open access »

How will the transition be made?

Publication fees should not be charged to individual researchers, but be jointly funded by research funders, libraries and publishers. Forte therefore works to contribute to joint financing of open access journals.

The Bibsam Consortium, a cooperation that negotiates license agreements with publishers on behalf of Swedish universities, university colleges and research institutes, is an important actor for the transition towards open access. There are already agreements in place with a number of major publishers. The agreements include subscription for both reading and publishing articles.

How do I know that a journal meets the requirements?

cOAlition S has developed an online tool, Journal Checker Tool, which will help researchers to easily identify journals or platforms that enable compliance with the Plan S requirements.