PLOS Open Access Agreement Goes Live

By admin / April 1, 2020

In February, the University of California announced that it had signed an agreement with the open access publisher, PLOS, to make it easier and more affordable for UC authors to publish in PLOS’ journals. We’re pleased to let you know that this agreement is in effect as of April 1!

How does the deal work?

Starting April 1, 2020, all manuscripts submitted for publication in a PLOS journal with a corresponding author from any of the ten UC campuses, UCOP, or Lawrence Berkeley National Lab are eligible for funding assistance from the UC Libraries. Under the agreement, the UC Libraries will automatically pay the first $1,000 of the article processing charge (APC). Authors who have research funds available are asked to pay the remainder of the APC, if any. Authors who do not have research funds available can request full funding of the article processing charge from the libraries, ensuring that lack of research funds does not present a barrier for UC authors who wish to publish in PLOS journals.

The pilot agreement runs from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022, and applies to manuscripts submitted on and between these dates. Payment is handled through PLOS’ manuscript submission system, so authors do not need to make any arrangements with their campus library directly. Find out more about this agreement from the PLOS frequently asked questions, and contact your campus library if you have any other questions.