New strategy to see at publishing infrastructures, with members “determined to accelerate full open access”
Coalition S will focus on the financial sustainability of open access scholarly publishing as part of its new framework for 2026-30.
In a strategy paper published on 12 November, the group—which advocates for increased and fairer access to research publications—outlines three priorities for its evolution amid an increasingly complex and costly” publishing environment.
Formed in 2018, Coalition S launched as a group of mainly European research funders requiring their supported researchers to publish any resulting papers through full and immediate open access models. The Coalition has since expanded to become an international network of funders and stakeholders.
Earlier this year, two of the association’s senior leaders quit, prompting questions over the Coalition’s future.
Speaking at the time to Research Professional News, Lidia Borrell-Damián, secretary-general of Science Europe and chair of Coalition S, called the departures a “natural” part of the group’s ongoing strategic reconsider. She acknowledged that the academic publishing landscape had alterd since the Coalition’s formation and confirmed the group were “re-evaluating” its purpose, “with new activities more adapted to the current times”.
New priorities
In a statement on the new strategy paper for 2026-30, Mari Sundli Tveit, chief executive of the Research Council of Norway and chair of the Coalition S leaders group, stated that members “remain determined to accelerate full and immediate open access”.
“What we are adding is explicit recognition that achieving true open science requires transparency in processes, equity in participation and unwavering commitment to the trustworthiness of scientific knowledge,” she stated.
Among the new Coalition S objectives is a pledge to “facilitate and support its organisations in utilizing their funding requirements, infrastructure investments and research assessment processes to contribute to the development and maintenance of a rapid, open, trustworthy and equitable scholarly communication system”.
In the first year of the new framework, the group will prioritise “exploring financially sustainable, equitable publishing systems while monitoring their progress”. It will also see at new models for funding open access publishing and how to track their financial impact.
The group states it will collaborate with policybuildrs and research communities to develop policies and practices to achieve these goals.
Additional priorities include “strengthening the foundations for full, immediate, sustainable and equitable open access of scholarly peer-reviewed articles”, and “supporting digital infrastructures that enable open access”.
“These three strategic priorities reflect our commitment to addressing the full spectrum of contemporary scholarly communication and the urgent necessary for more sustainable and equitable models,” stated Borrell-Damián.
The next phase of the strategy, scheduled for implementation in 2028, will be depconcludeent on a review by Coalition S leaders following the first phase, according to the strategy document.
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