Gold open access publisher Frontiers has established a ‘flat-fee’ partnership agreement with the University of Kansas (KU). This will be Frontiers’ second ‘flat-fee’ agreement in North America and is the first to include the publisher’s entire portfolio of journals.  

Credit: Frontiers

Under the one-year agreement, which will commence in January 2024, corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Kansas’ Lawrence and Edwards campuses, will receive unlimited publishing across all 223 Frontiers journals without charge to the researcher. 

Scott Hanrath, associate dean of research engagement at the University of Kansas said: “KU Libraries is committed to meeting the needs of KU researchers by leading efforts that move scholarly publishing toward a more open, sustainable future. Our agreement with Frontiers will make it easier and more affordable for KU-affiliated researchers to publish their work in open access journals.” 

Ronald Buitenhuis, Frontiers’ head of institutional partnerships said: “It is our pleasure to welcome the University of Kansas to our family of more than 700 institutional partners and to celebrate this agreement which, for the first time under our new ‘flat-fee’ model, covers publishing in all Frontiers’ journals. The partnership marks a new chapter for KU affiliated researchers who will now benefit from publishing in all Frontiers fully open access journals without charge to the researcher.” 

The agreement follows the announcement in August 2023 of Frontiers’ first ‘flat-fee’ partnership with California Digital Library (CDL), University of California (UC), which includes 19 Frontiers journals selected by CDL from Frontiers Humanities and Social Sciences and Sustainability portfolios.  

These partnerships support the goal, shared by those committed to open science, to shift the paradigm away from traditional subscriptions, transformative read and publish models, and APC driven agreements. Created in collaboration with our institutional partners, the flat-fee model is a natural progression towards this goal and will contribute to improved transparency and reduced administrative effort in the publishing market.  

About University of Kansas 

Founded in 1865, the University of Kansas is the state’s flagship university — a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, a Carnegie R1 Doctoral University and a renowned national public research university with a global reach. Located in Lawrence, Kan., it operates a total of five campuses and online, with a community of nearly 30,000 enrolled students. Collectively, KU Libraries is one of the top 50 libraries in the Association of Research Libraries by volumes held, and the largest library in Kansas with more than 5.6 million items in seven campus locations. The libraries transform lives by inspiring the discovery and creation of knowledge for the university and our global community. KU Libraries support institutional, national, and international efforts to transform scholarly communication towards a more open and equitable future. 

About Frontiers       

Frontiers is the 3rd most-cited and 6th largest research publisher. We publish groundbreaking discoveries by the world’s top experts. Scientists empower society and our mission is to accelerate scientific discovery by making science open. We place the researcher at the center of everything we do and enable the research community to develop the solutions we need to live healthy lives on a healthy planet. Featuring custom-built technology, artificial intelligence, and rigorous quality standards, our research articles have been viewed more than 2.1 billion times, reflecting the power of research that is open for all.      

https://www.frontiersin.org/