Subscribe to Open and Plan S

Subscribe to Open is a model pioneered by Annual Reviews that basically says that [if libraries continue to subscribe, the title will become OA](https://eve.gd/2018/01/21/how-learned-societies-could-flip-to-oa-using-a-consortial-model/). If libraries drop out, it goes back to being subscription. A good point that Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe brought to my attention is that this poses problems for the status of the title under Plan S provisions. Is this a type of hybrid publication? It's actually one that _could_ revert to being subscription only, which provides no certitude for authors who want to be sure that they comply with the Plan. What happens if I submit an article, thinking the title will be OA, but then it flips back to subscription before I am published? It's tricky. One solution I can think of for Subscribe to Open is to make the submission date of articles the contingent factor on whether they will be OA and whether they fall during an "open" period. This would give submitting authors certitude while also still allowing windows of back-and-forth flipping.

Subscribe to Open and Plan S was originally published by Martin Paul Eve at Martin Paul Eve on April 09, 2020.