Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Announces a New Open Access Policy That Will Take Effect on January 1, 2025

UPDATE (March 29, 2024): Statement From Coalition S / Plan S on New Gates Foundation Open Access Policy

Johan Rooryck, Executive Director at cOAlition S commented: “Five years on since Plan S was first published, it is entirely appropriate that funders are reviewing their OA policies to ensure they are effectively meeting their goals. The updated policy from the BMGF builds on what has been learnt, responding to the increased recognition of the value of preprints in the research enterprise. Our collective dedication to making full and immediate OA a reality remains the driving force behind our collaboration”.

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—End Update—

From a Center for Global Development (CDG) Post by Tom Drake:

Today marks a significant milestone as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) announces a new Open Access policy, representing a departure from traditional practices. This policy will cease support for individual article publishing fees, known as APCs, and mandate the use of preprints while advocating for their review. This blog looks at the rationale behind this change, exploring the persistent challenges in research publishing and the potential of preprint servers as a solution. It also examines the implications for researchers and research users, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of this new approach. Finally, it offers recommendations for research funders and researchers to embrace this shift towards equity and innovation in research publishing.

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Why is this change needed?

Two key challenges persist in research publishing: timeliness and openness. Journal publications often take months or in some cases, more than a year to be published, and the majority of research remains behind paywalls. Despite decades of initiatives, recent increases in Open Access publication have been achieved through costly APCs, effectively excluding those unable to afford publishing fees. Moreover, even if research funders are willing to overpay and accept a system that locks out those who can’t, at the current rate of change it will take 70 years to see the big five publishers flip their journals to fully Open Access. Urgent global problems do not work on this timescale.

This is not just a problem for researchers. Globally $1 trillion per year is spent on research; investment which supports the pursuit of all kinds of human social and economic progress. Concerns about the inability of our current publishing systems to adequately share the results of this investment should be a higher political priority.

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Resources

Direct to OA Policy Refresh 2025 FAQs

Direct to BMGF Open Access Policy Info Site

From then BMGF site:

Since 2015, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has led a bold Open Access policy that prioritizes the access, transparency, and equity of funded research. With a decade of experience and lessons learned, the foundation is refreshing its Open Access policies to address ongoing challenges and advance systemic change in scholarly publishing. The policy refresh will take effect on January 1st, 2025. The specific policy language will be posted on the website soon.

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