Frontiers, a leading open access publisher dedicated to scientific advancement, announced the roll-out of its flat fee open access model for institutions.   

As a pioneer of open access publishing since 2007, Frontiers has extensive experience in co-developing partnership models with a wide range of institutions based on their individual research and budgetary needs. We have drawn on this in-depth knowledge to implement a “transformed” institutional open access model – a transparent fully open access flat fee model – representing a shift in how institutions can transition to open access without being locked into paywalled subscription ‘big deals.’ This will enable research libraries and institutions to support their authors and researchers with unlimited open access publishing in all Frontiers’ journals. 

Our institutional partnerships team recognizes the limitations of traditional subscription models and the complexities of navigating open-access options. We aim to simplify that process for our partners. We work closely with research libraries, universities, and consortia to design solutions that fit their needs, from prepayment, monthly invoicing, to direct and annualized invoicing options, offering flexibility and control over publishing expenses. Our financial models are designed to address barriers to adopting open access, providing cost-effective solutions that scale with institutions’ publishing needs, and removing the financial limits to authors open access publishing. 

Flat fee partnerships offer a compelling value proposition for institutions, including enablement of improved open access budget planning with a single, predictable annual fee, that reduces administrative work and by extension frees up valuable resources for other crucial initiatives, as well as the opportunity for institutions and authors to leverage Frontiers' advanced technology platform to ensure research is openly accessible, discoverable, and easily readable by a global audience.  

"The current landscape of transformative agreements clearly shows that it does not offer a strong avenue to transition to a fully open research environment," says Dr. Franck Vazquez, Director of Partnerships. As recent reports show, while these deals might offer some initial benefits, they often lack the transformative conditions necessary to truly move towards fully open publishing. Our flat fee model offers a clear alternative. By establishing a single, predictable fee, institutions gain access to unlimited open access publishing for their researchers. This does not only simplify budget management, but it also restores author-choice, allowing researchers to publish open access without any of the APC administrative burdens. This is the catalyst that we need to accelerate the transition of science to a fully open future. We believe that this flat fee model, built on transparency and cost predictability, is the key to unlocking open access for researchers, institutions, and ultimately the advancement of science. 

This new model thus complements Frontiers' well-proven metered central invoicing models offered through our institutional partnerships program. All our models enable institutions to support their researchers to be at the forefront of scientific progress and deliver unparalleled value and impact to the research community. 

The announcement comes after Frontiers' pilot agreements negotiated with key partners in Europe (ZB MED and ZIB in Germany and Bibsam in Sweden) and North America (California and Kansas Universities). These partnerships allowed us to enter a new stage as we worked closely with leading institutions and libraries, tackling common challenges and ensuring the model delivers the best value for money.  

The successful implementation of these agreements is just one critical step toward supporting and accelerating the transformation of academic publishing. Frontiers is actively working on an insights platform to accelerate the adoption of open access and the flat fee model by consortia, institutions, libraries, funders, and other publishers worldwide.  

By inviting institutions to join our institutional partnerships program and academic publishing stakeholders to embrace the OA flat Fee model principles, Frontiers aims to bring stability, transparency, and affordability to academic publishing costs, reinvigorate the global open access transition, and foster a healthier scholarly publishing market. 

To learn more about our institutional partnerships and the flat fee model, please email institutions@frontiersin.org or visit our website.