17 May 2021 - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, a nonprofit publisher of leading research journals in molecular biology, genetics, and related fields, is pleased to announce its first set of transformational publishing agreements, effective from January 1, 2021.
"A sustainable path to open publication of biomedical research is a long-sought objective at Cold Spring Harbor," said Dr. John Inglis, Publisher of CSHL Press and co-founder of bioRxiv. "Our transformational offerings provide a model for any research-intensive institution whose scientists wish to make their articles openly available in these long-established, prestigious, not-for-profit journals."
These agreements aim to transform the business model for CSHL Press journals by expanding access for researchers, reducing the reliance on subscription fees, and encouraging a much greater uptake of Open Access publishing by authors.
The new deals are now in place with Jisc, which supports higher education and research institutions in the United Kingdom through digital resources and collective licensing negotiations; IReL, the national consortium of Irish libraries; and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), a leading research institution in Saudi Arabia.
Agreements have been customized for specific needs, with some unique features for each: Jisc members may join the agreement on an opt-in basis; IReL members all participate in the "read" portion of the license for selected CSHL Press journals; and the KAUST agreement applies to a single institution. All customizations, however, maintain the shared primary publishing goal: Any paper accepted for publication from a corresponding author at a participating institution may be published Open Access.
J.K . Vijayakumar, Library Director at KAUST said, "KAUST is proud to be a pioneer of open access and to be aligned with global initiatives. Through efforts like this read and publish agreement with CSHL Press, we are helping shape a sustainable, responsible approach to ensuring that our research on world-leading scientific journals is available to all."
"IReL is delighted to sign an agreement with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press," says Jack Hyland, IReL Manager. "It retains read access to key CSHL Press journals and waives article processing charges for our corresponding authors in these journals."