PLOS OA agreement 2025 and 2026
Did you publish in a PLOS (Public Library of Science) journal in 2025 or are you publishing in 2026? Check this page to see which consequences the PLOS Open Access agreement has for you.
The PLOS open access agreement enables UU and UMC Utrecht researchers to publish open access in 7 PLOS journals without APC costs or at a 10% discount. The agreement covers all articles accepted by these journals from January 1, 2025 until December 31, 2026.
Consequences of this deal vary depending on your faculty. Please select the option that contains your faculty:
Your faculty has decided not to forward costs to researchers and pay these costs from a central budget. Therefore, you do not have to pay the costs for publishing OA in these seven PLOS journals.
The agreement covers all articles accepted from January 1, 2025 until December 31, 2026:
- PLOS ONE
- PLOS Complex Systems
- PLOS Computational Biology
- PLOS Digital Health
- PLOS Genetics
- PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
- PLOS Pathogens
And all articles accepted from January 1, 2026 until December 31, 2026:
- PLOS Aging and Health
- PLOS Ecosystems
NWO and ZonMW have a separate agreement with PLOS, meaning that publishing costs will be covered by NWO/ZonMW and will not be passed on to your faculty or to you.
Costs will only be covered by NWO/ZonMW if your paper contains the applicable funder information. For more information see: https://www.nwo.nl/en/acknowledgement-in-publications.
Your funder does not participate in the PLOS agreement. Therefore costs will not be paid by your funder but passed on to your faculty. Your faculty will cover the costs from a central faculty budget.
No, faculties of Medical Sciences and Veterinary Science have decided to not forward costs to researchers. These will be covered by the faculty from a central faculty budget.
Contact the library.
Please note: If your paper was accepted before January 1 2025, or after 31 December 2026, it is not covered by the agreement and you are responsible for the invoice received from the publisher. Also if the corresponding author is not affiliated to UU or UMC Utrecht, the paper is not covered by the agreement.
We do not know yet if the deal will be renewed for 2027 and onwards. If your article is accepted after this date, we advice you to arrange funding possibilities before you submit your paper to PLOS.
A new national agreement. More than 30 Dutch research institutions have made an agreement with PLOS (Public Library of Science) that removes financial barriers to open access publishing.
As part of the agreement authors affiliated with UU or UMCU can publish in seven PLoS journals either without APC costs or at a discount.
The agreement includes 7 PLOS journals: PLOS ONE, PLOS Complex Systems, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Digital Health, PLOS Genetics, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and PLOS Pathogens. The agreement covers all articles with a corresponding author from UU or UMC Utrecht, accepted by these journals from January 1, 2025 until December 31, 2026.
In 2025, the library will cover the costs for publishing if there is no central fund from the author’s faculty. In 2026, we will invoice corresponding authors from faculties without a central fund, with a 10% discount on the regular APC.
This agreement supports Utrecht University’s commitment to open science by making research freely accessible to readers worldwide. PLOS was chosen as the first full open-access publisher for this national initiative because its journal portfolio appeals to various research institutions. As a non-profit publisher, PLOS strongly embraces open science principles. Our experiences with this first agreement will be used to optimize the (financial) workflows and see if other agreements are possible in the future.
This agreement marks the first time such a diverse consortium of Dutch institutions has joined forces for open-access publishing. Participants include universities, university medical centres, universities of applied sciences, research institutes, and—for the first time—seventeen top clinical hospitals, Naturalis, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Institute, and the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation.
Your faculty has decided not to cover the costs for this agreement from a central budget. In 2025 the library will cover the publication costs. In 2026 publication costs will get forwarded to authors. They will receive an invoice with a 10% discount on the regular APC.
The agreement covers all articles accepted from January 1, 2025 until December 31, 2026:
- PLOS ONE
- PLOS Complex Systems
- PLOS Computational Biology
- PLOS Digital Health
- PLOS Genetics
- PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
- PLOS Pathogens
And all articles accepted from January 1, 2026 until December 31, 2026:
- PLOS Aging and Health
- PLOS Ecosystems
NWO and ZonMW have a separate agreement with PLOS, meaning that publishing costs will be covered by NWO/ZonMW and will not be passed on to your faculty or to you.
Costs will only be covered by NWO/ZonMW if your paper contains the applicable funder information. For more information see: https://www.nwo.nl/en/acknowledgement-in-publications.
Your funder does not participate in the PLOS agreement. Therefore costs will not be paid by your funder but passed on to you. These costs can be covered using your research grant.
In 2025 you don't have to pay an invoice. The library will cover the costs for publishing if there is no central fund from the author’s faculty.
In 2026, you will have to pay an invoice. Authors from faculties without a central fund, will receive an invoice with a 10% discount on the regular APC. This invoice will be sent from the library, not the publisher. We strive to send the invoice within two months after acceptance.
We will ask you for a WBS number, from which the costs can be paid.
Contact the library.
Please note: If your paper was accepted before January 1 2025, or after 31 December 2026, it is not covered by the agreement and you are responsible for the invoice received from the publisher. Also if the corresponding author is not affiliated with UU or UMC Utrecht, the paper is not covered by the agreement.
Yes. The library will send you an invoice with a discount of 10% compared to the regular APC.
A new national agreement. More than thirty Dutch research institutions have made an agreement with PLOS (Public Library of Science) that removes financial barriers to open access publishing.
As part of the agreement authors affiliated with UU or UMCU can publish in seven PLOS journals either without APC costs or at a discount.
The agreement includes 7 PLOS journals: PLOS ONE, PLOS Complex Systems, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Digital Health, PLOS Genetics, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and PLOS Pathogens. The agreement covers all articles with a corresponding author from UU or UMC Utrecht, accepted by these journals from January 1, 2025 until December 31, 2026.
In 2025, the library will cover the costs for publishing if there is no central fund from the author’s faculty. In 2026, we will invoice corresponding authors from faculties without a central fund, with a 10% discount on the regular APC.
This agreement supports Utrecht University’s commitment to open science by making research freely accessible to readers worldwide. PLOS was chosen as the first full open-access publisher for this national initiative because its journal portfolio appeals to various research institutions. As a non-profit publisher, PLOS strongly embraces open science principles. Our experiences with this first agreement will be used to optimize the (financial) workflows and see if other agreements are possible in the future.
This agreement marks the first time such a diverse consortium of Dutch institutions has joined forces for open-access publishing. Participants include universities, university medical centres, universities of applied sciences, research institutes, and - for the first time - seventeen top clinical hospitals, Naturalis, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Institute, and the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation.