Journal editors voice concerns over Plan S

The Plan S initiative to enforce open-access publishing will do more harm than good, according to the editors of multiple journals interviewed by Research Europe.

The controversial initiative—which is the brainchild of the European Commission’s former open-access envoy Robert-Jan Smits—has been hotly debated in policy and academic circles. But journal editors have largely stayed out of public discussions. 

Now editors have told Research Europe of their concerns, which are especially acute around potential harm to poorer authors and the impact on academic societies.