PLOS and Iowa State University Library announce APC-free Open Access publishing agreement

The following press release was issued on Wednesday, April 29, at 9am Pacific

SAN FRANCISCO — Iowa State University Library and the Public Library of Science (PLOS) today announced a three-year Open Access agreement that allows researchers to publish in PLOS’ suite of journals 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 thrilled to continue our support for Open Access publishing with PLOS under this new agreement,” said Curtis Brundy, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Communications and Collections at Iowa State University. “Preserving and growing the diversity of scholarly publishers has never been more important, and this agreement reaffirms our commitment to seeing that pure Open Access publishers like PLOS thrive.”

Under the agreement, which will be implemented in July, Iowa State University Library will be charged an annual fixed flat rate over the three-year term, which will be based on prior years’ publication levels. Iowa State researchers 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 Iowa State University Library 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 agreement with the University of California,” said Sara Rouhi, Director of Strategic Partnerships for PLOS. “Both agreements demonstrate our effort to build a truly ‘open to read, open to publish’ environment for authors as well as our commitment to experimentation with our library partners.”