Jisc and the Microbiology Society have announced an open access agreement that will benefit researchers and guarantee free access for academics.
The ‘Publish and Read’ deal is the first arrangement with a small learned society announced by Jisc, the not-for-profit company which provides digital solutions to the higher education sector.
The new transitional two-year arrangement means researchers at participating institutions can publish an unlimited number of open-access articles and access the society’s full portfolio in return for a cost-neutral fee.
Jisc, which has negotiated the deal on behalf of 180 universities and research institutions, said new deals are expected with similar small publishers like Portland Press, the International Water Association and the European Respiratory Society.
As a small publishing society, we are keen to introduce models to promote new, innovative and country-wide OA publishing across our portfolio of journals.
– Dr Peter Cotgreave, the Microbiology Society
Small organisations like the Microbiology Society have not been able to broker agreements with universities before, but Jisc has created contracts which will allow similar organisations to open their resources to new users.
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Kathryn Spiller, licensing manager at Jisc who worked with the society to negotiate the agreement, said: “We are thrilled to have worked with universities, funders and the Microbiology Society to create a transitional model that allows 100% of UK output to be published open access on a cost-neutral basis.”
Dr Peter Cotgreave, chief executive of the Microbiology Society said: “We are delighted to have forged this agreement with our first national consortium for the benefit of microbiology researchers in the UK. As a small publishing society, we are keen to introduce models to promote new, innovative and country-wide OA publishing across our portfolio of journals.”
Robert Kiley, head of open research at Wellcome, said: “Following the work we commissioned with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) to help learned society publishers transition to full and immediate open access, I am pleased to see these cost-neutral transformative agreements come to fruition and I hope others will follow the lead of the Microbiology Society.”
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