New three-year Read & Publish Open Access agreement between The Company of Biologists and Jisc

21 October 2021

Following the success of our first two-year Read & Publish agreement with Jisc, we are delighted to announce that we have signed a new three-year agreement from 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2024.

Researchers at participating institutions will be able to publish an uncapped number of articles immediately Open Access in The Company of Biologists’ prestigious hybrid journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology – without paying an article processing charge (APC). They will also benefit from unlimited access to the journals, including the full archive dating back to 1853.

For the first time, Jisc member institutions also have the option to include uncapped APC-free publishing in The Company of Biologists’ fully Open Access journals – Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.

Anna Vernon, Head of Portfolio: Content Licensing at Jisc, says:

“We’re delighted to offer this agreement. Not only does this transitional agreement support the UK in the transition to Open Access it will help provide the latest biological research for use and reuse at no charge by early-career biologists and cutting-edge researchers alike. This builds on the sector’s success in making over 50% of UK research Open Access and will amplify the impact and reach of research.”

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

“The Read & Publish agreement we signed with Jisc in November 2019 was the first such agreement we reached with a library consortium anywhere in the world. It was a pilot and we were very pleased that 29 UK institutions chose to participate. Two years on, it is great to have signed our first three-year renewal agreement with Jisc too, and we are excited that the new offer includes our fully Open Access journals for the first time.”

Claire Moulton, Publisher at The Company of Biologists, says:

“The Company of Biologists has been committed to Open Access publishing since 2004 and we have a track record of innovation. We were one of the first not-for-profit publishers to launch a cost-neutral Read & Publish initiative and our journals were the first in the world to be awarded Transformative Journal status by Plan S. We have had very positive feedback from authors at institutions participating in the 2020-2021 Read & Publish agreement with Jisc, and we look forward to continuing our partnership over the next three years to promote the growth of Open Access publishing in the biological and biomedical sciences in the UK.”

Find out more about the agreement at www.biologists.com/library-hub/read-publish/jisc.

About Jisc

Jisc’s vision is for the UK to be a world leader in technology for education and research. It owns and operates the super-fast national research and education network, Janet, with built-in cyber security protection.  Jisc also provides technology solutions for members (colleges, universities and research centres) and customers (public sector bodies), helps members save time and money by negotiating sector-wide deals and provides advice and practical assistance on digital technology. Jisc is funded by the UK higher and further education and research funding bodies and member institutions.

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.

We have been committed to Open Access (OA) for over 16 years. We publish two fully OA journals – Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open. Our cost-neutral Read & Publish OA initiative is the latest step in our OA journey and over 375 institutions in more than 30 countries, six library consortia and one international library organisation are now participating.