Plan S: Who are the main players?

The European Commission’s former open access envoy, Robert-Jan Smits, and Science Europe have proposed a new open-access plan – Plan S – for scientific publishing that by 2020 would force all taxpayer-funded research results to be readable free immediately on publication. So far, 13 funding agencies in Europe have signed up to Plan S. These are:

1. Academy of Finland
2. Austrian Science Fund
3. French National Research Agency
4. Luxembourg National Research Fund
5. Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics
6. Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
7. National Science Centre (Poland)
8. Research Council of Norway
9. Science Foundation Ireland
10. Slovenian Research Agency
11. Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning
12. Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare
13. UK Research and Innovation

There is officially one non-European national funder on board – Zambia’s National Science and Technology Council. Jordan is said to be considering membership while India’s government is also taking steps to join.

Four charitable agencies have signed up to Plan S: 

1. Wellcome Trust
2. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
3. Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences
4. The Company of Saint Paul (Italy)

Follow our Plan S blog for updates