ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, BAONA
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust announced yesterday (November 5) that they are endorsing Plan S, an open-access publishing initiative, which means that they will require research they fund to be free to read upon publication, Science reports.
In doing so, they are joining cOAlition S, an organization launched in September with the goal of making scientific publications open access. The coalition consists of 13 government research funding organizations and two charitable foundations from 13 countries and has support from the European Commission and the European Research Council, according to its website. The additions of the Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust bring the total consortium membership to 15. By joining, funders commit to making sure that by January 1, 2020, grant recipients publish in open-access journals or on open-access platforms.
This policy change will prevent research funded by the Gates Foundation ...