The governing body of the European Research Council (ERC) has withdrawn its support for the cOAlition S, a multi-stakeholder movement which seeks to implement open access to scientific papers, whereby they would be free to access and share at the point of publication. Plan S, the strategy aimed at implementing open access, is due to be published in 2021. Research funding bodies that have signed-up include the World Health Organization, the Wellcome Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as17 national funding agencies.
Having previously participated in cOAlition S, the ERC Scientific Council has released a statement indicating that it will work towards open access of scientific papers in a different way and has therefore withdrawn as a supporter of cOAlition S. The statement explains that the ERC wishes to pay closer attention to a number of issues, including the needs of researchers and preserving equity among research communities and among European countries. In particular, the ERC noted that the intention of cOAlition S to regard the publication of research results in hybrid venues as ‘non-compliant’ from 1 January 2021, would be detrimental for early career researchers, researchers working in countries with fewer alternative funding opportunities or working in fields in which open access policies are more difficult to implement.The full statement of the ERC can be read here:
https://erc.europa.eu/news/erc-scientific-council-calls-open-access-plans-respect-researchers-needs
