Open Access in Europe: Reaction of Researchers to Plan S; Too far, too risky?

An Open Letter from Researchers to European Funding Agencies, Academies, Universities, Research Institutions, and Decision Makers.

We support open access (OA) and Plan S is probably written with good intentions. However, Plan S^[1], as currently presented by the EU (and several national funding agencies) goes too far, is unfair for the scientists involved and is too risky for science in general. Plan S has far-reaching consequences, takes insufficient care of the desires and wishes of the individual scientists and creates a range of unworkable and undesirable situations:
(1) The complete ban on hybrid (society) journals of high quality is a big problem, especially for chemistry. Apart from the fact that we won’t be allowed to publish in these journals anymore, the direct effect of Plan S and the way in which some national funding agencies and academic/research institutions seem to want to manage costs may eventually even lead to a situation where we won’t even be able to legally read the most important (society) journals of for example the ACS, RSC and ChemPubSoc anymore. Note that in their announcement of Plan S, the Dutch funding organisation NWO (for example) wrote that they expect to cover the high article processing charges (APCs) associated with the desired Gold OA publishing model from money freed by disappearing or stopped subscriptions to existing journals^[2]. As such, Plan S may (eventually) forbid scientists access to (and publishing in) >85% of the existing and highly valued (society) journals! So effectively Plan S would block access to exactly those journals that work with a valuable and rigorous peer-review system of high quality. As a second note on this aspect: In the Netherlands, already for more than 6 months, researchers don’t have legal access to most RSC journals^[3]. Fully banning even more society journals is completely unacceptable and unworkable.

(2) We expect that a large part of the world will not (fully) tie in with Plan S. The USA, China and the rest of Asia highly value the existing (society) journals, in particular (for chemistry) the ACS journals and (for physics) the APS journals. Germany and Switzerland already indicated they will not conform to the plans as currently formulated. Belgium will also not join-in and independently introduced a different OA policy. Spain is also out, at least for the time being. A transition period for the rest of the world will surely take a long time, and a total global ban on hybrid (society) journals being taken up as a global initiative seems very improbable. Therefore, Plan S has the risk of splitting the global scientific community into two separate systems: cOAlition S grantees vs. the rest of the world, with all associated negative consequences. If that happens, this will have a strong negative effect on collaborations between the cOAlition S countries and the rest of the world, because joint publications in the highest quality selective journals, based on rigorous peer review and quality control procedures, with the highest standing in the community, won’t be possible anymore (e.g. JACS, Science, Nature, Nature Chemistry, ACS Catalysis and Angewandte Chemie are all forbidden under Plan S!). This will also have a strong negative impact on the internationalization of PhD students and postdocs. Why would someone with academic ambitions come to e.g. the Netherlands or Sweden to obtain a PhD or obtain postdoc experience if they are not allowed to publish in journals that are important for their career progression, on the international landscape, and would make them therefore uncompetitive if they want to leave cOAlition S countries? Students in our universities are already starting to wonder if it is wise to do a PhD in a cOAlition S country, or rather move to another country to increase their chances of a successful (academic) career. Furthermore, if Plan S succeeds in splitting the global research system, it puts the willingness of scientists to do something for anyone in ‘the other system’, such as acting as a peer reviewer for manuscripts and research proposals, under pressure. These are all highly undesirable developments that will hurt science as a whole.

(3) We fully appreciate and agree with ongoing concerns about the exploding costs of journal subscriptions. However, with its strong focus on the Gold OA publication model, in which researchers pay high APCs for each publication, the total costs of scholarly dissemination will likely rise instead of reduce under Plan S. Furthermore, it will not eliminate the so-called publication ‘paywall’, but rather simply shifts it from reading to publishing. Tying in with this, the strong focus of Plan S to support in particular for-profit Gold OA-journals (at the expense of high quality non-profit Society journals^[4]) has a serious risk that it leads to a surplus of papers of low quality/originality/newsworthiness and that research groups are confronted with high APCs. After all, this system is coupled to perverse financial incentives: Stimulate accepting as many papers as possible - regardless of their quality - and keep increasing the already high APCs in more selective journals.

(4) Plan S ignores the existence of large differences between different research fields. Plan S has (probably) a much larger negative effect on chemistry than on some other fields. A one-size-fits-all approach, as presented in Plan S, is therefore a bad idea. The ‘mountain of feathers’ effect that Plan S can trigger will likely quickly result in lower international ranking and standing of individual cOAlition S researchers, most certainly if little changes elsewhere.

Taken together, Plan S is a serious violation of academic freedom: Strongly reduced access to (and possibilities to publish in) suitable scientific journals of high quality, with a direct consequence that it also strongly restricts our choice of countries with which we can conveniently collaborate with or sustain lasting exchange programs. There are also issues with the copyright model (CC-BY) demanded by Plan S. A full ban on publishing in hybrid journals with imposed sanctions also feels as a serious degradation of existing rights. Most problematically, less radical and cheaper solutions are certainly possible. See for example the suggestions presented here: [5]. In addition, more and more journals (for example, JACS^[6] and Elsevier journals[7]) are allowing researchers to not only deposit preprints of their work but also updating with each round of peer review until the decision letter is issued such that the research becomes immediately available via the pre-print server. However, as currently framed, Plan S sees such modes of dissemination as only being of archival value and this type of Green OA publishing is non-compliant under the current 10 rules of Plan S.

Researchers should have the freedom to choose publication venue, and while complying with Open Access mandates to also choose how papers are made Open Access, in a way that contributes to minimal increased costs for the publishing system while not impinging on academic freedom or jeopardizing internationalization in research and higher education. We call on both funding agencies who are already part of cOAlition S and those who have not (yet?) signed up, to take into account the full landscape of ways that papers can be made Open Access, and not just the very narrow definition provided by Plan S (including the hybrid ban, and the fact that peer reviewed pre-prints such as allowed by the ACS are currently not an obvious compliant solution). In addition, we demand that cOAlition S signatories take responsibility for the implications and risks Plan S may have for the European research landscape, and to therefore take every possible action in the implementation stage to prevent these potential and unintended consequences.

Abbreviations:
ACS: American Chemical Society
APC: Article Processing Charge
APS: American Physical Society
ChemPubSoc: Partnership of 16 continental European chemical societies nurturing a family of high-quality chemistry journals
EU: European Union
JACS: Journal of the American Chemical Society
NWO: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
OA: Open Access (no costs for reading)
Gold OA: OA model where the publications are immediately available from the publisher, usually upon author payment of an APC fee to get their paper published.
Green OA: Subscription journals accepting depositing a pre- or post-print in a repository.
Platinum OA: Fully free to publish and read.
RSC: Royal Society of Chemistry
VSNU: Vereniging van Samenwerkende Nederlandse Universiteiten

Footnotes:
[1] https://www.scienceeurope.org/coalition-s/
[2] https://www.folia.nl/actueel/123528/volledig-open-access-in-2020-6-vragen-en-antwoorden
[3] https://vsnu.nl/en_GB/news-items/nieuwsbericht/394-no-agreement-with-the-royal-society-of-chemistry-publishing%C2%A0.html
[4] https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/plan-s-could-prove-fatal-learned-societies
[5] https://forbetterscience.com/2018/09/11/response-to-plan-s-from-academic-researchers-unethical-too-risky/
[6] https://pubs.acs.org/page/jacsat/submission/prior.html
[7] https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/sharing#preprint

Other Resources:
https://forbetterscience.com/2018/09/11/response-to-plan-s-from-academic-researchers-unethical-too-risky/
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/podcast-plan-s-squelch
https://www.tidningencurie.se/debatt/europas-beslut-om-open-access-gar-for-langt/#.W88PDXz-zng.twitter
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07153-y
https://jbrittholbrook.com/category/academic-freedom/

https://sites.google.com/view/plansopenletter/open-letter
15.11.2018

Chemistry in Europe Newsletter, 4/2018

You are kindly invited to read the fourth issue of the 2018 Chemistry in Europe Newsletter. It is available online: https://www.euchems.eu/newsletters/chemistry-in-europe-2018-4/

The newsletter includes a number of interesting and highly relevant contributions, news, and upcoming events, such as an editorial by Robert Parker, RSC CEO and Member of the Executive Board on the recent EuChemS Chemistry Congress in Liverpool; an analysis on Open Education; input from the European Young Chemists’ Network and the Professional Networks; as well as news concerning the new Periodic Table we published, and a summary of the online course on Good Chemistry. Please also note that the nominations for the EuChemS Lecture Award and the EuChemS Award for Service are now open until December 31st.
 

Editorial
RSC chief executive, Robert Parker looks back on the 7th EuChemS Chemistry Congress

Focus
Horizon Europe – negotiations in full swing

Policy
Open Education is on its way

Research
EYCN at the 7th EuChemS Chemistry Congress
Young Chemists Crossing Borders (YCCB) – from Boston to Liverpool
ChemRxiv: Year One and Beyond

Members' Perspectives
150th Anniversary of the D.I. Mendeleev Russian Chemical Society

Notes
90 Elements that make up everything
Launch of a MOOC on Good Chemistry
2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
EuChemS Service and Lecture
Award nominations open!
EuChemS General Assembly 2018

Calendar

David Spichiger, SCS
09.11.2018

Webinar: Capturing value from your data to accelerate innovation

Join us on 13 November, 12.00h, and learn how to increase speed to market with cutting edge data science methods for R&D and manufacturing.

Most chemical companies have more potential projects than they have time to work on. Fulfilling customer requirements as quickly as possible is key to capturing value from the market. This webinar will explain how you can accelerate innovation in new process and product development.

By attending this webinar, you will learn:

• Why developing new technologies in cutting edge industries is such a challenge
• Why design of experiments is critical if you want confidence in meeting development project milestones
• How you can extract valuable insight from your flood of manufacturing data

Speakers: 

• Stan Higgins, OBE, former CEO of the North East of England Process Industries Cluster
• Phil Kay, JMP Senior Analytics Consultant, SAS JMP

Moderator: Benjamin Valsler, Digital Editor, Chemistry World magazine

More details about the content of the webinar and the speakers as well as the registration link are available via the direct link.  

JMP has been a part of SAS since the first version of JMP statistical discovery software was launched in 1989, bringing interactive data visualization and analysis to the desktop. SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions, SAS helps customers at more than 60,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®

David Spichiger, SCS
05.11.2018

SCNAT Newsletter, Oktober 2018

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Die Nettoemissionen von CO₂ müssen bis 2050 weltweit auf null sinken

Um die globale Erwärmung auf 1,5 Grad zu begrenzen, braucht es einen raschen und tiefgreifenden technischen und gesellschaftlichen Umbau. Das zeigt ein neuer Sonderbericht des Weltklimarats, den das Forum für Klima und globalen Wandel (ProClim) in Bern vorgestellt hat. Weiter

Wundermittel? Biowaffe? Hype? Auf jeden Fall ein ausgezeichnetes Video!

Der Animationsfilm «Gene Drives – Wundermittel? Biowaffe? Hype?» des Forums Genforschung hat bei Fast Forward Science 2018 den dritten Preis in der Kategorie «Substanz» gewonnen. Der Wettbewerb zeichnet Webvideos aus, die sich mit Wissenschaft und Zukunft auseinandersetzen. Weiter

«Gen-Informationen müssen für die Forschung frei verfügbar bleiben»

Schweizer Forschende sollen digitale Gen-Informationen weiterhin frei nutzen dürfen. Das fordern die Akademien der Wissenschaften Schweiz. Zurzeit wird eine Verschärfung des Nagoya-Protokolls diskutiert, das die faire Nutzung genetischer Ressourcen regelt. Weiter

Ein Jahr der Extreme für Schweizer Gletscher?

Im Hitzesommer 2018 verzeichneten die Gletscher massive Verluste. Ohne die riesigen Winter-Schneemengen wäre die Schmelze noch viel dramatischer ausgefallen. Mit einer Häufung von Extremjahren haben die Schweizer Gletscher in den vergangenen zehn Jahren einen Fünftel ihres Volumens verloren, berichtet die Expertenkommission für Kryosphärenmessnetze der SCNAT. Weiter

Geoengineering: Emissionen rückgängig machen oder die Sonneneinstrahlung

verändern?Um die globalen Klimaziele zu erreichen, sind technische Massnahmen nötig. Solche Eingriffe ins Klimasystem, als Geoengineering oder Klimaintervention bezeichnet, sind aber mit kaum abschätzbaren Kosten und Risiken sowie mit unerwünschten Nebenwirkungen verbunden. Ein Faktenblatt der Akademien der Wissenschaften Schweiz stellt die verschiedenen Verfahren und ihre Vor- und Nachteile vor. Weiter

Lieber solide wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse als viele

Das Wissenschaftssystem wächst, denn Produktivität wird belohnt. Was in der Wirtschaft sinnvoll sein kann, führt in der Wissenschaft zu Fehlanreizen. Die Qualität wissenschaftlicher Ergebnisse kann teils nicht mehr ausreichend gesichert werden. In Zeiten von Fake News darf das Vertrauen in die Wissenschaft aber nicht gefährdet werden. Die Schweizerische Akademie der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften und die Akademie der Naturwissenschaften plädieren in einer neuen Publikation für Qualität vor Quantität. Weiter

Beyond impact factor, h-Index and university rankings: Evaluate science in moremeaningful ways

Scientists and scientific institutions increasingly compete for limited employment opportunities and research funding. The ambition to allocate the available means favoured quantitative metrics to assess the scientific merit. However, these measurements potentially undermine the quality in science. A conference held on 21 November 2018 in Bern shows the limitations of such metrics. It presents assessment approaches that challenge conventional metrics and discusses whether steps are necessary to maintain the high quality of the Swiss science landscape long-term. More

Neu bei der SCNAT: Ursula Schüpbach und Marc Türler

Seit dem Oktober 2018 leitet die Geografin Ursula Schüpbach die Interakademische Kommission Alpenforschung (ICAS) und die Forschungskommission des Schweizerischen Nationalparks (FOK). Sie folgt auf Thomas Scheurer, der pensioniert wurde (Interview). Gleichzeitig hat der Physiker Marc Türler die Leitung der Plattform «Mathematics, Astronomy and Physics» (MAP) von Christian Preiswerk übernommen. Die MAP umfasst verschiedene Fachgesellschaften und Arbeitsgruppen. Sie unterstützt unter anderem die Tätigkeiten dieser Organisationen und fördert die Forschung und Bildung im Bereich Mathematik, Astronomie und Physik.

Herausragende Leistungen bei der Erforschung des Klimawandels

Reto Knutti, Präsident des Forums für Klima und globalen Wandel (ProClim) der SCNAT und Professor für Klimaphysik an der ETH Zürich, wird für seine Leistungen bei der Erforschung des Klimawandels und für die Vermittlung seiner Erkenntnisse an die Öffentlichkeit mit dem Brandenberger-Preis 2018 ausgezeichnet. Der mit 200'000 Franken dotierte Preis zählt zu den höchsten Stiftungspreisen in der Schweiz. Weiter

Wilder Westen im Untergrund

Geothermie, Metroröhren, Leitungen – unter der Erde nimmt das Gedränge zu. Durch die vielfache Nutzung des Untergrunds stellen sich neue Fragen: Wem gehört er eigentlich? Welche Prioritäten sind zu setzen? Bisher hat die Schweiz diese Aspekte noch kaum geregelt. Die laufende Revision des Raumplanungsgesetzes sieht nun vor, den Geltungsbereich auf das Erdreich auszudehnen. Mehr dazu lesen Sie in der aktuellen Ausgabe des Wissenschaftsmagazins «Horizonte». Weiter

«My fear is that the tasks are underestimated severely by open data advocates»

On the national and the international level science is pushing towards open data. As noble as the principle is, the challenges for scientists are immense. Nicolas Thomas, space scientist from the University of Bern, will talk at the event «Open Data and Data Management – Issues and Challenges» on 29 October organised by SCNAT in Bern. The workshop will discuss open questions related to the implementation of the open data concept in Swiss science with representatives from all relevant funding organizations. More

Think Tanks: Rolle und Einfluss in der Schweizer Politik

Denkfabriken liefern wichtige Impulse zu gesellschaftlichen Fragen und beeinflussen die politische Debatte. An einer Tagung der Stiftung Wissenschaftliche Politikstipendien werden ihre Rolle und ihr Einfluss diskutiert sowie die Chancen, die eine Ausbreitung politiknaher Denkfabriken für ein wissenschaftlich informiertes Policy Making mit sich bringen. Melden Sie sich bis zum 24. Oktober an. Weiter

Weitere Aktivitäten der SCNAT

> www.scnat.ch/events

Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz (SCNAT)
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Andres Jordi | Tel. 031 306 93 23 | www.scnat.ch
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