Supporting Open Access for Researchers and Promoting Plan S

Project Information

SOAR

Grant agreement ID: 101015557

DOI

10.3030/101015557

Project closed

EC signature date 11 December 2020

Start date 1 June 2020

End date 31 May 2023

Funded under

• Develop the accessibility and the use of the results of publicly-funded research

Total cost

€ 299 930,00

EU contribution

€ 299 930,00

Coordinated by

FONDATION EUROPEENNE DE LA SCIENCE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SOAR (Supporting Open Access for Researchers and Promoting Plan S)

Reporting period: 2021-12-01 to 2023-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Publication paywalls are preventing a significant fraction of the scientific community and society at large from accessing research results. This situation presents a major obstacle to the scientific enterprise in its need for fast dissemination of research results, that researchers and citizens can examine, build upon and adopt. Making research results more accessible to all contributes to better and more efficient science and accelerates innovation in the public and private sectors.

Driven by their duty to support efforts towards Open Access publication of research results, beyond publication paywalls, a group of (currently 28) national and international research funding organisations, including the European Commission, have formed cOAlition S, an alliance committed to an Open Access mandate called Plan S. Coming into effect on 1 January 2021, Plan S requires that all peer-reviewed scholarly articles resulting from primary research funded by public or private grants provided by national, regional and international funding bodies must be made available in full and immediate Open Access, without embargo and with an open licence allowing re-use (such as CC-BY). The Horizon Europe Open Access requirements are fully aligned with Plan S.

Plan S allows its researchers to publish Open Access in a variety of ways: on fully Open Access journals and platforms, through making their Author Accepted Manuscript openly available in a repository, or via various Transformative Arrangements with publishers who have committed to transitioning their journals to Open Access. Plan S applies applies to peer-reviewed scholarly articles.

The SOAR project (“Supporting Open Access for Researchers and Promoting Plan S”) supports cOAlition S activities in order to successfully implement Plan S and make full and immediate Open Access the global norm.

The first objective of the SOAR project is to contribute financially to the development of a web interface, the Journal Checker Tool to make sure that cOAlition S funded researchers, including under Horizon Europe, can easily identify the Open Access route they have to adopt to publish in journals of their choice in accordance with the Open Access mandate of their grant agreement.

The second objective t is to support outreach to research funding organisations not yet aligned with Plan S, to make cOAlition S a truly global initiative.

The third objective is to support communication activities with all stakeholders to promote Plan S and increase awareness and support for Open Access. The success of Plan S hinges on its uptake by the research community.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The Plan S Journal Checker Tool was deployed in November 2020 (https://journalcheckertool.org/). It is a free, simple and open interface where the Plan S and Horizon Europe funded researcher can enter their funder, institution, and journal they wish to publish in. Based on that combination, the JCT indicates whether the researcher can publish in their journal of choice while fulfilling their funder’s Open Access requirements.The SOAR project has allowed make the JCT fit for purpose to be used by Horizon Europe and cOAlition S grantees, and remains a flexible tool that can incorporate future changes to funder OA mandates.

The results of the outreach activities supported by SOAR were overall positive. They reached the immediate objective of growing the membership by 6 new funders. However, beyond the immediate narrow objective of a larger membership, these activities have allowed to build trusted partnerships with previously non-aligned organizations. We believe that the SOAR grant, in combination with other European projects and efforts, will continue to yield positive outcomes as cOAlition S members and the European Union continue to work for a better scholarly communication system that is open, transparent, trustworthy and serves the public good.

To highlight the benefits of Open Access to the scientific community and the role of Plan S in promoting it, an ambitious communication strategy and action plan were developed.  A steady stream of news and updates illustrating the progress of the Plan S principles and implementation boosted Plan S awareness. In terms of digital outreach, the cOAlition S website recorded almost 400,000 visits for the project period, and the Twitter account gained 5550 followers with an impressive engagement rate.  

In addition to improving the cOAlition’s digital and social media channels, the cOAlition led several advocacy campaigns, for example about authorrights retention. Furthermore, a communication toolkit was developed for all stakeholders wishing to promote Open Access in their own networks. cOAlition S realised more than 200 online presentations about Plan S during the SOAR project, in webinars organised or co-organised with key stakeholders, including universities, libraries, research associations, publishers and funders, addressing a total number of 12 800 participants.

Thanks to the SOAR grant, cOAlition S has implemented a robust communication and outreach strategy to advance its objectives. cOAlition S successfully disseminated information, engaged with the research community, and garnered substantial media coverage. The communication toolkit and publicity efforts further supported our goals, solidifying cOAlition S’s role as a leading advocate for Open Access within the research landscape.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The SOAR project has supported the work of Plan S and thus contributed to accelerating transition towards immediate and full open access to scientific publications in Europe and globally, to the benefit of science, the research community, and society as a whole.  

Funders are in a stronger position to advocate for Open Access within their constituencies thanks to the backing of the cOAlition. However, the impact of cOAlition S reaches beyond the member funders. The Plan S principles have become a standard across academia.

Thanks to its outreach activities, cOAlition S has built relations with communities beyond its immediate membership and is influencing the policies in these regions (US, India, Latin America, etc). cOAlition S has also listened to and learned from these communities and has integrated their experience in its work, notably around equity in Open Access, price transparency and author rights.

During the last 12 months of the project, the landscape cOAlition S is operating in has changed considerably. A series of far-reaching declarations and policies have been announced by governments regarding research, such as the Nelson Memo in the United States in August 2022, the declaration of the G7 Science and Technology ministers in Sendai in May 2023, and the conclusions of the Council of the European Union in May 2023, which all called for a more open, more transparent, more trustworthy scholarly communication system, that is not-for-profit, serves the public good and is fit to solve global challenges.

Although we cannot attribute these changes solely to the existence of cOAlition S, the fact is that the direction showed by Plan S and the European Commission through the SOAR grant seem to have convinced governments to request better scholarly publishing. Beyond Open Access, the community is looking at cOAlition S funders to be a driving force for better and more responsible publishing that is equitable, affordable and that serves the public good.

Plan S Journal Checker Tool home page