In a landmark development for open access scientific publishing, the Public Library of Science (PLOS) has announced a comprehensive publishing agreement with India’s Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). This strategic partnership, which extends through 2026, sets a precedent in the global movement toward equitable, unrestricted dissemination of academic research. By integrating MAHE into its innovative Community Action Publishing, Global Equity, and Flat Fee models, PLOS effectively shifts the financial burden of publishing from individual researchers to their parent institutions, eliminating paywalls and publication fees that have historically constrained access and participation in scholarly communication.
MAHE, recognized by the Government of India as an Institute of Eminence, exemplifies leading academic institutions committed to open science paradigms. This collaboration leverages PLOS’s institutional agreements to empower MAHE researchers with unlimited publication rights across all PLOS journals. The partnership not only facilitates a barrier-free gateway for the global scientific community to access research outputs originating from MAHE but also amplifies the visibility and impact of Indian scholarship on an international stage. By removing author-level article processing charges (APCs), this model helps democratize the publication landscape, enabling researchers irrespective of their funding situations to contribute robustly to scientific discourse.
The significance of this agreement extends beyond MAHE’s institutional boundaries, marking a critical expansion of PLOS’s footprint within India’s diverse and rapidly evolving research ecosystem. Roheena Anand, Executive Director for Global Publishing Development and Sales at PLOS, emphasized the shared vision underpinning the partnership: advancing equitable, accessible, and barrier-free scientific communication. India’s vast academic community, long hampered by prohibitive publishing costs and limited open access options, stands to benefit substantially from this initiative, which aims to foster both greater collaboration and visibility within the international research community.
Integral to this endeavor is SPUR Infosolutions, a pioneering force in India’s academic and technological landscape, which facilitated this exclusive institutional partnership. Sameer Puri, SPUR’s Founder and CEO, highlighted their role in bridging PLOS’s innovative open access models with the nuanced realities of the Indian scholarly market. This alliance promises to cultivate a synergistic environment where institutions across India can progressively engage with global open science initiatives, bolstering their research output and stakeholder participation. The collaboration signals a transformative step toward normalizing open access publishing standards within the subcontinent’s academic fabric.
PLOS’s institutional agreements ecosystem already includes prominent consortia and research libraries worldwide, including SURF in the Netherlands, Jisc in the United Kingdom, NorthEast Research Libraries (NERL) and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) in the United States, CRKN in Canada, TIB in Germany, IReL in Ireland, and Couperin in France. These partnerships collectively illustrate a scalable model promoting sustainable open access through shared funding and institutional responsibilities. By embedding MAHE within this network, PLOS underscores its commitment to enhancing global scientific equity, tapping into the intellectual reservoir of one of the world’s most populous nations.
This pioneering model fundamentally challenges the traditional subscription and APC-driven publication frameworks. Instead of individual researchers bearing the cost as post-publication fees or through restrictive journal subscriptions, institutions aggregate resources to fund open access publishing. This approach not only removes financial disincentives for authors but also aligns with principles of transparency, reproducibility, and accelerated dissemination of scientific knowledge. Particularly in regions with emerging research economies like India, such institutional arrangements are instrumental in leveling the playing field and fostering inclusive scholarly communication practices.
The implications for academic libraries and research offices are profound. They now serve as pivotal agents in facilitating access to knowledge and enabling proactive engagement with open access infrastructure. Institutional fund allocation towards flat-fee or consortium-based agreements can optimize budget predictability and broaden the scope of author participation in high-impact journals. Furthermore, these partnerships encourage libraries to rethink traditional roles, evolving into active facilitators of scholarly publication and advocates for open science principles that resonate with global policy shifts and funder mandates.
For researchers at MAHE, this development translates to immediate and tangible benefits. Unrestricted access to, and publication within, PLOS journals ensures that their work is disseminated swiftly, reaching diverse audiences including policymakers, clinicians, industry stakeholders, and interdisciplinary scholars. The removal of paywalls encourages higher citation potentials and fosters interdisciplinary collaborations. Additionally, open access publishing aligns with growing global emphasis on research transparency, enabling data sharing and reproducibility — critical for enhancing the credibility and societal impact of scientific investigations.
Moreover, this agreement reflects broader trends within the scientific publishing ecosystem emphasizing innovation in business models. By adopting global equity perspectives and community action initiatives, PLOS is pioneering methods to sustain open access financially without compromising quality or editorial independence. This holistic approach promotes inclusivity and sustainability, addressing inequities that have traditionally marginalized researchers from resource-limited institutions or nations, thereby enriching the global knowledge base while sustaining publishing excellence.
The partnership also highlights the increasingly vital role that technological infrastructures and digital platforms play in modern publishing. PLOS’s robust online presence and open-source infrastructure enable seamless article submissions, peer-review tracking, and wide dissemination, complemented by data metrics and altmetrics to monitor impact. Integration with institutional repositories fosters archiving and long-term accessibility. By participating in this digital transformation, MAHE researchers stand to increase the reach and influence of their findings, subsequently advancing the institution’s reputation and collaborative ventures.
In addition, this collaboration with MAHE reaffirms the evolving narrative of India’s higher education and research sectors within global science. As the country invests significantly in research and development, such agreements exemplify the strategic alignment between policy initiatives like India’s Institute of Eminence recognition and international open access frameworks. These efforts support India’s ambitions to elevate scientific output quality, ensure ethical academic practices, and enhance the global competitiveness of Indian research institutions.
Taken together, the PLOS-MAHE agreement embodies an essential milestone in equitable scientific publishing, combining innovative financial architectures with a shared commitment to open knowledge dissemination. It illustrates how institutional leadership, technological innovation, and collaborative networking can converge to transform barriers into opportunities. As this model matures, it may serve as a blueprint for other emerging economies and academic ecosystems seeking to balance open access aspirations with sustainable funding solutions, ultimately driving a more inclusive and vibrant future for science worldwide.
About the Public Library of Science (PLOS), it is a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the transition towards open science by implementing systemic changes in research publishing. It champions measurable, meaningful transformations in scholarly communication, advocating for a future in which scientific knowledge is accessible to all, promoting innovation, transparency, and societal benefit without financial or legal restrictions.
Subject of Research: Not applicable
Keywords: Scientific publishing, Scientific journals, Medical journals, Open access, Digital publishing, Academic publishing, Publishing industry
