Plan S, an initiative by European funders to increase open access to journal articles, has led to progress but not in the way originally intended. Although it aimed to dismantle paywalls and boost fully open-access publishing, most of the growth has occurred in hybrid journals, which mix open-access and paywalled articles. A recent independent report published by our company scidecode science consulting indicates that while Plan S has catalyzed discussions and changes, it may take another 5 to 10 years to see clear evidence of its success.
Since its implementation, open-access percentages in some cases have risen modestly, with transformative agreements between publishers and institutions driving much of the increase in hybrid journals. However, these agreements have benefited large commercial publishers and wealthier institutions, raising concerns about equity and competition. Although Plan S has not yet significantly expanded open-access publishing, it has influenced policies and priorities, especially in Europe, where open-access publishing is becoming more common.
Our report suggests Plan S has succeeded in elevating open access as a priority in many institutions, but its overall impact remains unclear. Coalition S, the group behind Plan S, plans to continue its efforts, potentially adding new incentives for researchers and promoting „diamond“ open-access journals, which don’t charge fees for publishing or accessing content.
The report is available as:
Pablo de Castro, Ulrich Herb, Laura Rothfritz, Wolfgang Bendikt Schmal, Joachim Schöpfel (2024). Galvanising the Open Access Community: A Study on the Impact of Plan S. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13738479
Science also published a piece on this report:
Jeffrey Brainard (2024). A mixed review for Plan S’s drive to make papers open access. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.z6iznoc