'NEUROSCIENCE: Exploring the Brain', a book review by Brenda Walker
22nd November 2024
29th Mar 2022
From 1st April, new rules come in to force which means that UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) joins other major funders - including SFI and Wellcome - in only allowing publication of research they have funded in journals which are compliant with Plan S.
Whether or not a journal is compliant depends on several factors, including the institution in which you work. However, the main factor is the degree to which a journal is committed to Open Access content. Here are some examples and tools:
Post-publication update (31/3/22): We are aware that since our initial checks of the journals listed were carried out via the Journal Checker Tool on 15 March 2022, the data have been updated that makes more of the journals listed compliant. Please check the tool for the most up-to-date information on a journal's compliance with the new policy.
Post-publication update (14/4/22): In the original version of this article, we mistakenly included journals which exclusively publish review articles. These have now been removed. Plan S solely applies to primary research pubulications, and therefore reveiw articles fall out of scope. Please see page 8 of the UKRI Open Access Policy.
Plan S is an initiative for Open Access publishing that was launched in September 2018. The plan is supported by cOAlition S, an international consortium of research funding and performing organisations.
The key commitment of Plan S is as follows: “all scholarly publications on the results from research funded by public or private grants provided by national, regional and international research councils and funding bodies, must be published in Open Access Journals, on Open Access Platforms, or made immediately available through Open Access Repositories without embargo.” (see coalition-s.org)
Please use the Journal Checker Tool and undertake your own checks on journals, since the results depend on the specific circumstances of your own research, including your institution and your funder. The information given below is just illustrative.
Having assessed a list of 20 prominent UK and international neuroscience journals with the Journal Checker Tool, here is what we found. These results have limitations including:
Route to compliance | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Compliant with Plan S? | Open Access Route | Transformative Journal Route | Transformative Agreement Route | Self Archiving Route | |
Annual Review of Neuroscience | No | ||||
Brain | Maybe | * | |||
Brain and Neuroscience Advances | Yes | * | * | ||
Cell | Maybe | * | |||
Current Biology | Maybe | * | * | ||
eLife | Yes | * | * | ||
EMBO Journal | Maybe | * | * | ||
eNeuro | Yes | * | * | ||
European Journal of Neuroscience (EJN) | Maybe | * | |||
Journal of Neuroinflammation | Yes | * | * | ||
Journal of Neuroscience | No | ||||
Nature Neuroscience | Maybe | * | |||
Neuron | Maybe | * | |||
Neuroscience | No | ||||
Open Biology | Yes | * | * | ||
PLoS Biology | Yes | * | * | ||
Progress in Neurobiology | No |