The implementation of Plan S has been pushed to 2021. This is, according to the statement by Coalition S, to give authors, publishers and repositories enough time to prepare for the transition. Plan S’ initial goal demands full and immediate open access to scientific articles by 2020.

Plan S mandates all grant receiving authors are to publish articles only on fully open access journals. It requires full compliance from authors and publishers.

According to Plan S Article Processing Charges (APCs) should be covered by funding agencies or universities.

Plan S was a response to a high journal subscription. It was launched in 2018. It is an initiative by 13 consortium of European research funding agencies. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Welcome Trust are also organizations behind the initiative.

Th proponents of Plan S argue that it makes a transition to open access swift and as a result it benefits science and society. Nonetheless, Plan S has been criticized by some publishers and researchers. Researchers concern is that the mandate to publish only on open access journals inhibits researchers’ freedom to publish on journals of their choice. Moreover, it does not allow enough time to transition to fully open access journals, they argue.

Sources
Coalition S

European funders postpone radical open access plan by a year – to 2021