Researchers at over 100 institutes in Spain now benefit from fee-free Open Access publishing in leading biological science journals

The Company of Biologists is pleased to announce a new Read & Publish agreement with the Spanish National Research Council.

This cost-neutral agreement, which runs until 31 December 2023, enables researchers at more than 100 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) institutes to publish an uncapped number of Open Access research articles in Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental
Biology at no cost to them. They will also benefit from free and unlimited access to the journals and their archives dating back to 1853.

Agnès Ponsati, Director of CSIC’s Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI), said:

“As the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe, the Spanish National Research Council is firmly committed to driving Open Science by promoting open access to CSIC’s research results.

The Read & Publish agreement with The Company of Biologists is a new step forward in our strategy of promoting Open Access as a key pillar for open science at CSIC. We are pleased because it is a real cost-neutral agreement, thus fulfilling one of the basic principles of so-called transformative
agreements. The agreement adds to the more than 25 open access agreements that CSIC has signed with a wide range of scientific publishers as part of its Open Access Publishing Support Program, with the aim of fostering a diverse and plural Open Access publishing ecosystem.”

Richard Blount, Regional Sales Manager – Europe at The Company of Biologists, said:

“Our new Read & Publish agreement is an important milestone in our long-standing partnership with  CSIC. Under previous agreements, 15 CSIC institutes in Spain had ‘read’ access to our subscription journals. We are delighted that our new agreement extends access to researchers at over 100 CSIC
institutes and that uncapped, fee-free Open Access publishing is available for the first time too.”

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

“As a not-for-profit publisher dedicated to supporting the biological community worldwide, we have been committed to Open Access for over 16 years. Our journals were the first in the world to be awarded Transformative Journal status by Plan S and over 375 institutions in more than 25 countries
are now participating in our Read & Publish initiative. We are very excited about our new Read & Publish agreement with CSIC and are keen to work together to promote the growth of Open Access publishing in the biological and biomedical sciences in Spain.”

Find out more about the agreement with CSIC and eligible institutions at
https://www.biologists.com/library-hub/read-publish/library-consortia/csic-announcement

About the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Part of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones
Científicas) is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe. Its main objective is to develop and promote research that will help bring about scientific and technological progress, and for this purpose it collaborates with a wide network of Spanish and foreign
entities.

CSIC consists of over 100 institutes (its own and also joint institutes in collaboration with 43 public universities) and has more than 11,000 staff, distributed across institutes and central services. 5,300 staff are directly involved with research, including permanent, hired researchers, fellows and intraining
researchers.

CSIC researchers contribute more than 12,000 scientific publications per year, with nearly 70% of them in top impact factor quartile journals.

About CSIC’s Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)

URICI is a central support unit for research teams within the CSIC. It is responsible for the strategic planning, development and operation of its libraries and the digital infrastructures necessary to provide its institutes with scientific information resources for the development of excellent science. It also collaborates in CSIC’s Open Science strategy, specifically through the promotion of its policy of Open Access to research results, via the green or gold route.

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 subscription 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 25 countries, six library consortia
and one international library organisation are now participating.

Contact: Richard Blount, Regional Sales Manager - Europe
Email: subscriptions@biologists.com
Website: biologists.com/read-publish
Twitter: @Co_Biologists