In the January 2020 issue of College & Research Libraries News, Allison Langham-Putro and Sunshine J. Carter summarize an alternative to article processing charge (APC)-based models for supporting a transition to open access, Subscribe to Open. Its key features include:
- “Subscription-like” payments are used to make all newly published content immediately open access.
- Authors are not charged APCs or other fees.
- Incentives encourage subscribers (or a critical mass of subscribers) to participate.
- Subscriber participation can be assumed because only with participation can the model succeed. If too many subscribers cancel, the journal(s) revert to subscription-based, closed access.
- Yearly renewal processes are similar to a regular subscription and fit into existing workflows.
- Publishers with multiple titles can implement the transition in phases.
Read the full article at College & Research Libraries News.