Plan S is an initiative for Open Access publishing that was launched in September 2018. The plan is supported by cOAlition S, an international consortium of research funders. Plan S requires that, from 2021, scientific publications that result from research funded by public grants must be published in compliant Open Access journals on platforms or made immediately available through Open Access Repositories without embargo.

For instance, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), will implement the principles of Plan S for all calls that are published from 1 January 2021 onwards and will be applicable to publications related to those calls.

The implementation guidelines outline how researchers can meet the requirements of Plan S. The most important requirements for publishing academic articles according to Plan S are currently: 

• immediate Open Access;
• accessible under a Creative Commons licence (CC-BY) and with retention of copyright.

These conditions can be met by:

• publishing in an Open Access journal or on an Open Access platform;
• archiving a final (VoR) or accepted (AAM) version direct in the institutional repository (with a CC-BY license);
• publishing in a hybrid journal that is party to a ‘transformative agreement’.

Questions about Plan S? Please contact us by email: openaccess@uva.nl or look for more information on the website of Coalition-S.