PLOS Global Equity Model
Open Access partnership opportunities that reflect the diversity of a global community
- Affordable, equitable fee tiers in every region
- Eliminate author fees
- Increase global participation in Open Access publishing
Make Open Access publishing equitable for researchers in every region
We believe scientific knowledge is strengthened by diverse perspectives, and that it accelerates progress faster when it’s shared openly. Our Global Equity model removes financial barriers for researchers to participate in Open Access and Open Science by offering affordable, equitable partnership opportunities for their institutions in every region of the world.
Institutions who partner with PLOS through our Global Equity model pay an annual flat fee per journal to ensure researchers at their institution who wish to publish in PLOS Climate, PLOS Global Public Health, PLOS Mental Health and/or PLOS Water never face publication fees at those journals. Institutional participation fees are based on each institution’s historical research output in the field and are reflective of their regional economy according to their country’s World Bank lending tier.
Institutions geographically located in Research4Life countries are automatically included in our Global Equity model. Researchers at these institutions will never be subject to fees at these journals.
Publishing Terms of Service
All PLOS partnership models are subject to PLOS’ Master Publishing Terms of Service. Institutions or consortia that wish to partner with us should contact us for further information.
- Affordable and regionally equitable pricing
Our Global Equity model is designed to empower institutions in every region of the world to provide Open Access support for their authors by removing financial barriers. Our tiered institutional pricing makes unlimited publication opportunities more affordable than individual APCs for institutions of all income levels, and is reflective of each institution’s regional economy, providing equitable opportunities to participate. - Open new opportunities for your researchers
Increasing global participation in Open Access publishing broadens the perspectives we learn from in addressing global challenges. Our issue-driven journals; PLOS Climate, PLOS Global Public Health, PLOS Mental Health and PLOS Water, are inclusive of a broad range of disciplinary expertise and seek to amplify underrepresented perspectives. Our Global Equity model provides a way to support all researchers who wish to make their voices heard through these journals — even if they’ve never published with PLOS before. - Deeper insights and transparency
We believe in giving our partners more insight into publication activity and cost, to continue driving solutions that benefit the entire scholarly community. Under the Plan S framework, we’ve committed to sharing our journal costs and fees transparently. We also provide custom reports and data tools to help you dig deeper into submissions, publications, funding and data sources for your authors.
Institutions who participate in our Global Equity model for PLOS Climate, PLOS Global Public Health, PLOS Mental Health or PLOS Water encourage diverse, equitable representation of all research perspectives in addressing critical, global challenges in these areas.
PLOS Climate
PLOS Climate unites researchers across disciplines and regions of the world to tackle the challenges of a changing climate at a global scale. Our goal is to empower global collaboration–between researchers and organizations, individuals and policymakers.
PLOS Global Public Health
PLOS Global Public Health reaches across disciplines and regional boundaries to address some of the biggest health challenges and inequities facing our society today. We’re working to broaden the range of perspectives that are at the forefront of public health research to advance the wellbeing of all humankind.
PLOS Mental Health
PLOS Mental Health is an inclusive journal addressing challenges and gaps in the field of mental health research, treatment, and care in ways that put the lived experience of individuals and communities first. Our journal connects researchers and practitioners from across the clinical psychology, counseling psychology, psychiatric, mental health, behavioral medicine, and social science communities.
PLOS Water
PLOS Water connects communities across water sanitation and water resources research and amplifies diverse voices from all regions, disciplines, and community perspectives that influence this globally important topic.
We believe science drives progress faster when it includes everyone. Partners in our Global Equity model can help us make Open Access publishing more accessible to all researchers through an Equity Contribution of $1,500. All funds from these voluntary payments will be pooled to further reduce the pricing tiers for institutions in low and low-middle income countries in the following year. The Equity Contribution is entirely optional and institutions may participate as many times as they wish.
By working together, we can remove financial barriers to ensure Open Science is inclusive of all diverse perspectives.