IOP Publishing and the University of Texas System drive forward open access to North American research with new transformative agreement
21 Aug 2023 by Faye Holst
University of Texas System and IOP Publishing logos
The University of Texas System (UT System) – one of the US’s largest public university systems – have established a three-year transformative agreement (TA) with society publisher IOP Publishing (IOPP). The agreement between IOPP and the UT System allows affiliated researchers to publish unlimited OA articles in IOPP’s journals and most partner journals with the costs to publish already covered. TAs are key to making publicly funded research openly accessible to all on publication, in line with The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) policy.
The TA will help to widen the readership and increase visibility of research published by authors affiliated with all 14 UT System Institutions. IOPP user data shows that OA content is downloaded 80% more and cited 30% more than paywalled content, demonstrating the substantial advantages of publishing research OA.
Of the nearly 300 North American institutions that now form part of an IOPP TA, many have seen a significant increase in their OA output. So far in 2023, researchers affiliated with the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) have published nearly 170% more OA articles and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), has seen an increase of nearly 190% compared to the same period last year.
Julian Wilson, Chief Sales Officer at IOPP says: “At the end of 2022, just 42 North American institutions could take advantage of an IOPP TA – that number now stands at just under 300 meaning far greater reach and impact for many more researchers in North America. The University of Texas System has some big open access ambitions, and we’re very pleased to be part of that. It’s fitting that the OSTP is marking 2023 as its year of Open Science as we’ve made such huge strides to open up access to North American research. We’ll continue to secure TAs around the world with research institutions and consortia and look forward to seeing the increase in OA publication.”
Lorraine Haricombe, Vice Provost and Director of the UT Libraries says: “For generations, The University of Texas has improved the lives of many through education, health care and research. Making our research openly available for anyone to read through our transformative agreement with IOPP will help us reach even more people globally and exponentially expand the impact of our work.”
Researchers from the United States who would like to publish their work open access can find more information on IOP Publishing’s dedicated support page: https://publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org/questions/researchers-from-the-united-states/