RSC commits to complete open access in 5 years

All Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) journals will be open access within 5 years, the organization pledged Oct. 31. This makes the RSC the first chemistry publisher, and one of the first society publishers, to commit to full open access, the organization says. “We are aiming for a future in which [open-access] publication makes authors’ work accessible on a global scale,” Emma Wilson, director of publishing at the RSC, says in the announcement. “As we saw with COVID research, enabling that level of openness and international collaboration can be a catalyst for accelerating innovation and discovery, creating a better, more sustainable, future for all.” As part of the effort, the society aims to move away from having authors pay article processing charges—fees that many journals currently charge to make articles available for free. Instead, the RSC will look to pay for open access through deals with institutions or funders. The RSC will submit its plan to transition to open access to cOAlition S, a group of research funders that have committed to publishing their funded research only through open access.