Plan S: A threat to quality of science?

A group of European national research funding organizations, with the support of the European Commission and the European Research Council, have announced the launch of coalition S (“European funders seek to end reign of paywalled journals,” M. Enserink, In Depth, 7 September 2018, p.957). According to the plan, after1 January 2020, scientific publications reporting the results of publicly funded research must be published in compliant open-access journals or on open-access platforms. However, the requirement to publish in an open-access journal does not consider the most important aspect of publishing: selecting a journal that has a strong record of rigorous and high-quality review. This is essential to ensuring that the science is credible. Journal quality is built on a strong track record of publishing significant and impactful manuscripts in a given field. The current Plan S emphasizes only the open access aspect of the journal, not the quality of the science the journal publishes.