PLOS announces new publishing agreement with the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries

Note: PLOS issued the following press release on February 23, 2022

(San Francisco) – The Public Library of Science (PLOS) and the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries (CSAL) today announced a three-year Open Access agreement that allows researchers to publish in PLOS’ suite of journals[1] without incurring Article Processing Charges (APCs). This partnership brings together two organizations that believe researchers should be able to access content freely and make their work available publicly, regardless of their access to grant funds.

“We are excited about our first deal of this kind with a gold OA publisher which allows the participating institutions to contain their costs without limiting the publishing opportunities for their researchers,” said Susanne Aerni, Head Consortial Services, Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries.

“The University of Lausanne is delighted to partner with PLOS and participate in these innovative initiatives to advance Open Access in a fair, transparent and affordable way!” said Micaela Crespo, Head of Open Access, University of Lausanne.

Participating institutions include, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Universita della Svizzera italiana, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne with Haute École Pédagogique du Canton de Vaud, University of Lucerne with University of Teacher Education Lucerne, Schwyz University of Teacher Education and University of Teacher Education Zug, University of Neuchâtel and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Under the agreement, which began earlier this year, the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries will be charged an annual fixed flat rate over the three-year term, which will be based on prior years’ publication levels. Consortium institutions will have unlimited opportunity to publish in PLOS journals over these three years and will not be charged any APCs. This agreement will further PLOS’ mission of making Open Access publishing available to all while ensuring that its journals include research from authors representing a diverse array of disciplines, career stages, and geographies.  

“The agreement with the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries is yet another step in our goal of empowering authors who want to participate in Open Access publishing, and it continues the momentum following our recent agreements with consortia in the United States,” said Sara Rouhi, Director of Strategic Partnerships for PLOS. “CSAL share our commitment to building business models that will move researchers and journals toward a more equitable and barrier free form of publishing.”

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About the Public Library of Science

PLOS is a nonprofit, Open Access publisher empowering researchers to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication. Since our founding in 2001, PLOS journals have helped break boundaries in research communication to provide more opportunities, choice, and context for researchers and readers. For more information, visit http://www.staging.plos.org.

About the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries

The Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries obtains licenses for scientific resources (electronic journals, e-books and databases). It offers a broad range of services and supports the efforts to establish a national Open Access strategy. It therefore plays an instrumental role in guaranteeing the quality and competitiveness of Switzerland as a university and research hub: www.consortium.ch

[1] PLOS Digital Health, PLOS ONE, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Pathogens, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, PLOS Genetics