Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A consortium signs a 3-year TA that obligates the publisher to convert a flagship journal to full OA by year 3.
- Is an instance
Annual TA reporting includes percentage of journal titles flipped to OA and per-article cost.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A TA renewed for a decade without any titles flipping to OA.
- Not an instance
A TA labelled 'transformative' but with no transparency obligations.
Editorial commentary
Transformative agreements (TAs) include Read-and-Publish, Publish-and-Read, and similar variants. Plan S endorses TAs as a transitional route until a publisher's titles flip to fully OA, on conditions including price transparency, an articulated transition plan with milestones, a clear end date (originally 31 December 2024 for cOAlition S funding eligibility), and reporting via the ESAC registry. Following 2024 review, cOAlition S announced the end of dedicated Plan S funding for TAs after 2024, with implications for ongoing negotiations. TAs have proliferated globally, but evidence of actual journal flipping remains mixed.
References
- ESAC Initiative. cOAlition S 'Towards Responsible Publishing' 2023 statement. Hinchliffe LJ 'Transformative agreements: A primer' 2019.
Also known as
TA · Transformative deal
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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