The Company of Biologists renews Read & Publish Open Access agreement with the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL)

20 November 2024

The Company of Biologists is delighted to announce the renewal of our five journal Read & Publish Open Access agreement with the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL).

The new agreement, which runs throughout 2025, ensures that corresponding authors at participating institutions in Australia and New Zealand can continue to publish an uncapped number of research articles immediately Open Access (OA) in our hybrid journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology) and our fully Open Access journals (Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open) without paying an article processing charge (APC). Researchers at participating institutions also benefit from unlimited access to our hybrid journals, including their full archives dating back to 1853.

Dr Arthur Smith, Associate Director, Content Procurement at CAUL, says:

“CAUL is pleased to continue our Read & Publish Open Access agreement with The Company of Biologists. Uncapped agreements provide certainty to authors that their articles will be published Open Access, streamlines processes for institutions, and reflects a mature relationship between libraries and publisher. CAUL is committed to the ongoing transition of scholarly communication, and agreements like this play a pivotal role in delivering on the promise of Open Access.”

Rich Blount, Regional Sales Manager at The Company of Biologists, says:

“The Company of Biologists is delighted to agree a further year with CAUL, meaning Australian and New Zealand researchers will continue to have the opportunity to publish unlimited research articles across all our titles, without paying an APC. We highly value our partnership with CAUL and this latest deal continues our commitment to supporting the wider library community.”

Find out more about the agreement and participating institutions.

About the Council of Australian University Librarians
The Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) is the peak leadership organisation for university libraries in Australia and New Zealand. CAUL members are the University Librarians or equivalent of the 39 institutions that have representation on Universities Australia (UA) and the 8 University Librarians or equivalent of the institutions that have representation on Universities New Zealand (UNZ) and who form the Council of New Zealand University Librarians (CONZUL), a committee of UNZ.

CAUL makes a significant contribution to higher education strategy, policy and outcomes through a commitment to a shared purpose: To transform how people experience knowledge — how it can be discovered, used and shared. CAUL’s vision is that society is transformed through the power of research, teaching and learning. University libraries are essential knowledge and information infrastructures that enable student achievement and research excellence.

About The Company of Biologists
The Company of Biologists is a not-for-profit publishing organisation dedicated to supporting and inspiring the biological community. We partner with libraries and library consortia to enable biologists worldwide to access our leading peer-reviewed hybrid journals — Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology — and our fully OA journals — Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.

We also have a long-standing and ongoing commitment to Open Access. Our cost-neutral Read & Publish initiative enables corresponding authors at participating institutions to publish an uncapped number of OA research articles in our hybrid journals and our two fully OA journals — without paying an Article Processing Charge (APC). We were the first not-for-profit publisher to commit to the Transformative Journal approach and our journals were the first to be awarded Transformative Journal status by Plan S. Over 900 institutions in 52 countries are now participating in our cost neutral Read & Publish OA initiative. We also have Read & Publish agreements with many library consortia.

Learn more about our new bio-positive publishing initiative, The Forest of Biologists.