Expansion of open access publication offerings for PLOS

In accordance with the Open Access Resolution of the University of Freiburg, the University Library promotes Open Access publications in a variety of ways and enables thereby a free and unimpeded access to academic research. By participating in various framework agreements, members of the university who act as corresponding authors have the opportunity to publish articles free of charge or at a discount.

In the years 2023-2024, the UB is now participating in another framework agreement that covers the publication services of the US non-profit publisher Public Library of Science (PLOS). With an annual flat fee based on the historical publication volume of members of the University of Freiburg, the UB finances the publications of its researchers in all 12 journals of the publishing house, which fall under the subject areas of medicine, biology, computer science, and energy and environment. No further costs are charged and there is no article cap. It is published immediately in Open Access under a CC-BY licence. Research Articles, Registered Report Protocols, Registered Report Articles, Lab Protocols, Study Protocols, Discovery Reports and Update Articles that are accepted for publication between January 3rd, 2023 and December 31st, 2024 are considered eligible.

Important note: In order for publications by employees of the University Hospital to be covered by the framework agreement, the affiliation guideline of the Medical Faculty (PDF) must be followed and the affiliation to the University of Freiburg must be clearly stated in the affiliation information in the publication! The assignment of the publication to the University of Freiburg can also be guaranteed by entering the Ringgold ID 9174. The Editorial Manager, which guides the authors through the submission of articles and in which they can select their institution, will go live on January 1st, 2023. Instructions for the submission process can be found here (docs.google link)