Plan S for Shock: Science. Shock. Solution. Speed.

226 Pages·2022·2.421 MB·English

by  Robert-Jan Smits, Rachael Pells

PLAN S
PLAN S
In a world where information has never been so accessible, we are P
hungrier for the facts than ever before. And yet, strict paywalls put in L

place by multi-billion dollar publishing houses are still preventing mil- A
lions from accessing quality, scientific knowledge.
N
SCIENCE.

On 4 September 2018, a bold new initiative known as ‘Plan S’ was
S
F O R S H O C K
unveiled, kickstarting a global shift in attitudes towards open access

research. For the first time, funding agencies across continents joined F
SHOCK.
forces to impose new rules on the publication of research, with the O
aim of one day making all research free and available to all. SCIENCE.
R

Here, the scheme’s founder, Robert-Jan Smits, makes a compelling SOLUTION.
S SHOCK.
case for Open Access, and reveals for the first time how he set about
H
turning his controversial plan into reality – as well as some of the chal-
O
lenges faced along the way. SOLUTION.
SPEED.
C
***
K SPEED.
“The power of journal brand name and false measures of impact re-
main deeply embedded in the culture of scientific publication. This
book offers a compelling look at how the necessary changes may ad-
vance.” – Foreword written by RANDY SCHEKMAN, Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine.
S
*** M
I
ROBERT-JAN SMITS has a long standing career in European science
T
and innovation policy and worked as director-general at the European
S
Commission where he founded Plan S. He is now the President of the

Eindhoven University of Technology.
&

RACHAEL PELLS is a freelance journalist who writes mainly about sci-
P
ence, higher education and research for a variety of magazines, news-
E
papers and online media platforms. – The bold Open Access initiative that
L – The bold Open Access initiative that
L changed the face of scientific publishing –
changed the face of scientific publishing –
S
Robert-Jan Smits & Rachael Pells
Foreword by Nobel Laureate, Randy Schekman
Robert-Jan Smits & Rachael Pells
Foreword by Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman
Plan S for Shock
Science. Shock. Solution. Speed.
Robert-Jan Smits and Rachael Pells
]u[
ubiquity press
London
Published by
Ubiquity Press Ltd.
Unit 322–323
Whitechapel Technology Centre
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London E1 1DU
www.ubiquitypress.com
Text © Robert-Jan Smits and Rachael Pells 2022
First published 2022
Cover design by Kirsten Weijs
Print and digital versions typeset by Siliconchips Services Ltd.
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-914481-16-1
ISBN (PDF): 978-1-914481-17-8
ISBN (EPUB): 978-1-914481-18-5
ISBN (Mobi): 978-1-914481-19-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bcq
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Suggested citation:
Smits, R-J, and Pells, R. 2022. Plan S for Shock: Science. Shock. Solution. Speed.
London: Ubiquity Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bcq.
License: CC-BY-NC
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Foreword ix
Introduction xi
Part One 1
1.1 Welcome to the world of academic publishing 5
1.2 What exactly is open access anyway? 7
A note on licensing 9
1.3 Why OA? 9
Reason 1: It’s the principle 9
Reason 2: It makes economic sense 11
Reason 3: It makes research more accessible – which benefits society 13
Reason 4: Open access makes the research process faster and
more efficient 14
Reason 5: Open access improves the quality and trustability of research 16
Reason 6: It’s in the public interest 18
Reason 7: It makes research more inclusive 21
Reason 8: It allows for inclusiveness and connectivity 24
Reason 9: It helps the Global South 24
Reason 10: Academic research was always intended to be open 26
1.4 Academic publishing: a brief history 27
History repeating 29
Publishing becomes big business 30
1.5 The internet and OA: the early pioneers 32
The European campaign 36
A new era for academic publishing 36
1.6 The Wellcome Trust and Gates Foundation pave the way for OA 37
1.7 The Finch Report: taking OA to a political level 42
1.8 Brussels gets involved; the momentum picks up 43
1.9 Slow progress: the move towards OA stagnates 46
Reason 1: Big business, big financial interests and demanding
shareholders 47
Hybrids: a halfway house 52
Reason 2: Obsession with ‘impact factor’ 53
Reason 3: Lip service to DORA 57
Reason 4: Resistance to change; reluctance to take action 61
1.10 Time for a radical intervention 63
Part Two 65
2.1 The open access envoy 65
2.2 Forming a plan 67
2.3 The impact on smaller publishers 70
2.4 Warning bells 72
2.5 Gaining allies 75
2.6 The European tour 77
2.7 Support arrives from the universities 80
2.8 Gaining support from the younger generation of researchers 82
2.9 Compromises, compromises 84
2.10 The Coalition is born 85
2.11 The first setbacks 87
2.12 Putting the Science Europe face on; Plan S makes its first headlines 94
September 2018: The launch 95
2.13 To the movies 99
2.14 October 2018: the US road trip 102
2.15 You win some, you lose some 106
A breakdown of the common criticisms to Plan S 108
APCs and the quality debate 110
Lack of global awareness/coordination 112
An attack on academic freedom? 113
2.16 Towards a Plan S implementation guidance 116
2.17 Berlin 2018: a radical intervention 118
China shocks the world at OA2020 in Berlin 120
Transforming the narrative 121
2.18 Celebrating rebels 122
2.19 Berlin take two: entering the lion’s den 123
2.20 Latin America speaks out 124
2.21 Big interest from big players … and another withdrawal 127
2.22 The goodbye 129
Part Three 131
3.1 Changing the narrative 131
1. Transformative agreements: a valid solution? 132
A mixed reception 134
2. New publishing platforms 138
3. Copyright reigns supreme … 139
… But publishers won’t give up copyright without a fight 142
3.2 Reimagining publisher business models 144
The big five today: appetite for change? 146
The fall of publisher power 153
3.3 The future of academic publishing 155
Idea 1: Journals will be dead 155
Idea 2: Articles will be dead – well, almost 158
Idea 3: New technologies will lead the way … 161
… If data is made open 161
Idea 4: Attitudes towards cost will change … 163
… And journals will have to get creative … 164
… But not all will survive 165
3.4 Navigating the data-led future 167
The role of funders and institutions 168
Managing academic data 170
Europe’s role in protecting academic data 171
The impact of Covid 174
Putting power back into the hands of experts 178
3.5 Plan S as a continued source of debate 179
No silver bullet 180
Changing the culture in academia with each new generation 182
Money remains a sticking point 185
The final word on hybrids 186
Looking beyond the APC model 188
Will the US make a move on OA? 188
3.6 Open science: the new normal 191
3.7 Taking stock of the legacy 192
Epilogue: Seven Lessons Learned 197
1. Make a plan 198
2. Seek out allies 198
3. Listen to your peers 198
4. Communicate, and stay in the news 199
5. Engage with your opponents 199
6. Learn to be resilient 199
7. Know when it is done; plan an exit 199
Index 201
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to sincerely thank everyone who has given their time to
contribute towards this book. For some this meant several hours of interviews;
for others it was the painful task of digging through documents from several
years ago to provide sources, figures or background information. Thank you for
your valuable insights and patience.
All the publishers mentioned in the text were contacted with a request for an
interview and given the right to respond to content. A special thanks to those
who chose to respond.
We would especially like to thank Frederick Fenter, Lia Noce, Agata Zaza and
the rest of the team at Frontiers, without whom this book would not have been
possible. Frontiers paid for Rachael’s time spent writing the book, but had no
influence over its content or editorial direction.
Finally, this book was written with the intention of prompting debate as
part of the continuing conversations happening around open access, and we
welcome readers’ comments and observations.

Foreword
Scientific publication has undergone a significant transformation as a result
of our now universal dependence on electronic communication. In order to
survive, publishers and journals have increasingly turned away from print in
favour of online access. With the advent of online publication, the speed of dis-
semination and wide access to research findings has challenged the traditional
business model of subscription. Scientific societies and commercial publishers
have struggled to maintain control of their copyrighted work in the face of easy
access to preprint archives and wide dissemination of pdf copies of publications
that previously were held behind paywalls available only to subscribers.
A relatively new model, open access, where the author pays for wide and
immediate dissemination of their work, has challenged the hegemony of the
subscription model. In open access, the true costs, and profits, of publication are
made transparent as the author is directly responsible for the full expense. The
advantages of open access are obvious and have become apparent to all with
the immediate and open disclosure of Covid-19-related publications made
available by commercial and not-for-profit publishers during the pandemic.
But to many scholars in research subject areas or geographic locations where
the expense of open access may be prohibitive, the downside of this model is
also obvious. For the model to be adopted internationally, some form of subsidy
must be developed at the level of the publisher or the institutional sponsor.
In spite of the advantages of open access, the model has been slow to take
hold, primarily because of opposition from commercial publishers and certain