American Physiological Society to Launch Subscribe to Open Model for Research Journals

Rockville, Md. (February 23, 2024)—The American Physiological Society (APS), a nonprofit organization that publishes 16 scientific journals highlighting critical advances in physiology and related fields, announces a strategic shift to a Subscribe to Open (S2O) publishing model. As part of its mission to advance scientific discovery, understand life and improve health, APS is working closely with the library community to implement this open access publishing model, beginning in 2025, for 10 of the Society’s primary research journals.

APS is committed to championing physiology by extending the discipline’s reach worldwide. Partnering with the community to adopt S2O will enable the Society to facilitate a transition to open access publishing without adding article processing charges (APCs). APS members and authors will have a home to publish their work using an approach compliant with funder policies worldwide. S2O benefits the research community by providing immediate access to scientific advances and enabling communication to the broadest audience in a fair and sustainable manner.

“APS is excited to experiment with this innovative model to transition 10 of our primary research journals to open access. As a leading publisher of physiological sciences, we look forward to partnering with the library community to deliver this effective and sustainable solution to advance open access to our content,” says APS Chief Publishing Officer Colette Bean. “We believe this new model will break down barriers, stimulate collaboration and speed scientific discovery to help solve the major scientific challenges that affect life and health.”

The S2O model is a cost-neutral bridge in the transition to open access. Current institutional library subscribers are offered continued access to their publications through the standard subscription process. If enough subscribers agree to renew, APS commits to making that year’s content open access. This is done without service disruption or additional costs on the part of the library community. Subscribers need only to renew their subscriptions normally, and if enough libraries agree to participate, the articles are made open access at no direct cost to authors.

Learn more about how APS is implementing open access and view the list of journals moving to the S2O model.

Physiology is a broad area of scientific inquiry that focuses on how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function in health and disease. The American Physiological Society connects a global, multidisciplinary community of more than 10,000 biomedical and basic scientists and educators as part of its mission to advance scientific discovery, understand life and improve health. The Society drives collaboration and spotlights scientific discoveries through its 16 scholarly journals and programming that support researchers and educators in their work.