YERUN welcomes the opportunity to give feedback on the cOAlition S Guidance on the Implementation of Plan S, which follows our previous position statement published in October 2018.

We support the aims and scope of Plan S to facilitate a swift transition to an open access publishing system that results in unrestricted and free access to, and reuse of research outputs, that are published and archived in Plan S compliant platforms and journals, with copyright retention for authors/and or institutions.

We agree that the transition will be a collaborative process among all key stakeholders. Effective engagement with key stakeholder groups and organisations and continued alignment will be vital to the successful implementation of Plan S, and to sustaining a fair, strong and vital research culture (including education, infrastructures, policies and evaluation mechanisms) that supports researchers at all stages of their careers. Particularly for early career researchers, it is important to make sure that incentives and assessment criteria are aligned with Plan S principles. YERUN is committed to working with cOAlition S and related stakeholders to advance on this.

Currently, the lack of transparency on costs and publishing agreements creates an environment which stifles true competition and inhibits innovation and development of services that truly reflect customer needs – researchers, institutions, funders. We agree on the need for full transparency on costs and contracts to foster the development of healthy, competitive services that meet customer requirements.

Finally, cOAlition S has outlined the key requirements for service providers to use and shape their products, and would urge cOAlition S to continually monitor the impact of new or revised business models and changing practices to avoid perpetuating existing faults in the scholarly publishing system or the creation of new ones. Attention should be paid to the impact on disciplines.

Photo credit: cOAlition S, Science Europe.