What next for open access as Coalition S scales back its ambitions?
While scientific publishing is far more open than when the consortium launched seven years ago, it is still far more closed than it was aiming for
Seven years ago, Coalition S launched with the ambitious aim of making all research its backers funded freely accessible without subscription or paywalls by 2021. This was its Plan S. At the time, Coalition S’s declaration was highly influential as the organisation was set up by an international consortium of scientific charities and major research funders from across Europe and North America. Coalition S’s new strategy for the next five years takes a more flexible approach, embracing a range of open access (OA) models and plans to monitor investment, fairness and sustainability – a step back from its original highly ambitious goal.