Plan S

Definition: Plan S is an initiative, launched in September 2018 by cOAlition S, a consortium of research funding organisations, which aims to accelerate the transition to full and immediate Open Access. Participating funders require recipients of research grants to publish their research in compliant Open Access journals or platforms, or make their work openly and immediately available in an Open Access repository, from 2021 onwards. cOAlition S funders have committed to not financially support ‘hybrid’ Open Access publication fees in subscription venues. However, authors can comply with plan S through publishing Open Access in a subscription journal under a “transformative arrangement” as further described in the implementation guidance. The “S” in Plan S stands for shock.