Plan S is an initiative for open-access science publishing, launched in September 2018 by cOAlition S, a consortium of research funders. Wikipedia’s article on Plan S is broadly accurate on the initiative’s origins and ten principles, but its most-cited figures on transformative agreements, rights-retention uptake, and coalition membership are frozen between 2021 and 2023 — and the article makes no mention of cOAlition S’s own Strategy for 2026-2030, published in November 2025.
Plan S is the requirement, backed by cOAlition S funders, that peer-reviewed research they fund be made immediately and freely available in a compliant open-access journal, platform, or repository, without embargo, under an open licence.
- What does Wikipedia say about Plan S?
- Where the Wikipedia article holds up
- Where the record is stale
- What cOAlition S’s 2026-2030 strategy adds
- Common questions
- What this means for institutions and publishers
What does Wikipedia say about Plan S?
Wikipedia’s “Plan S” article opens by describing the initiative as a consortium of national research agencies and funders from twelve European countries, requiring that publicly funded research be published in open repositories or fully open-access journals by 2021. It correctly identifies cOAlition S as the coordinating body and lists the ten founding principles set out in the original implementation guidance.
The article also notes real, later developments: the extension of the compliance deadline from 2020 to 2021, the Rights Retention Strategy, an October 2023 proposal to explore publishing models without author-facing fees (“diamond” open access), and a 2024 Gates Foundation policy shift described as not fully aligned with Plan S. This shows the page is edited, not abandoned — but the edits are sparse and several core figures have not been touched in years.
Where the Wikipedia article holds up
Several elements of Wikipedia’s account remain a fair summary of Plan S as it was designed. The ten principles — author copyright retention, standardised and capped publication fees, funder-level monitoring of compliance, and the explicit statement that hybrid open-access journals do not satisfy the key principle — match the original guidance released by the Science Europe-coordinated task force on 27 November 2018.
The licensing detail is also accurate: compliant articles must carry a CC BY 4.0 licence, or alternatively CC BY-SA 4.0 or CC0, and journals must meet baseline peer-review standards consistent with guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and listing in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). None of this has changed, and Wikipedia states it correctly.
Where the record is stale
The gaps are concentrated in exactly the areas that move fastest: funding mechanics, uptake statistics, and coalition scope. The table below sets Wikipedia’s wording against cOAlition S’s own published record.
| Wikipedia’s claim | Current cOAlition S position | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Transformative agreement contracts “may not last beyond 2023” | cOAlition S confirmed in January 2023 that member funding for transformative arrangements would continue but cease entirely on 31 December 2024, with no new agreements accepted after 30 June 2023 | cOAlition S, “cOAlition S confirms the end of its financial support for Open Access publishing under transformative arrangements after 2024” |
| Rights Retention Strategy uptake given “as of October 2021 … over 500 works” | No comparable running total has been added since; the Strategy remains active guidance with no current uptake figure cited on the page | cOAlition S Rights Retention Strategy guidance (ongoing) |
| Lede describes cOAlition S as funders “from twelve European countries” | Membership and policy alignment now extends beyond that founding European core, as the article’s own later reference to the Gates Foundation’s 2024 policy shift illustrates | cOAlition S member list; Wikipedia “Plan S” article, “Policy changes by member organizations” section |
| No mention of a forward strategy beyond 2023-24 developments | cOAlition S published its Strategy for 2026-2030 in November 2025, setting three strategic priorities across two implementation phases | cOAlition S, “cOAlition S Strategy for 2026-2030” |
None of this makes the Wikipedia article wrong about what Plan S was. It makes the article an increasingly incomplete guide to what Plan S is now — a distinction that matters for anyone citing it in a policy brief, grant compliance note, or institutional guidance document.
What cOAlition S’s 2026-2030 strategy adds
cOAlition S’s Strategy for 2026-2030, published in November 2025, is the most authoritative recent statement of where the coalition is heading, and it is entirely absent from Wikipedia’s coverage. The strategy sets three strategic priorities: reinforcing the foundations for full, immediate, and equitable open access to peer-reviewed articles; supporting the digital infrastructure that underpins open access; and exploring financially sustainable and equitable publishing models while tracking their outcomes.
Implementation runs in two phases. Phase one (2026-2027) concentrates on foundational work, digital infrastructure, and member services. Phase two (2028-2030) is intended to deepen work on sustainability and equity, subject to review of phase-one outcomes by the Leaders Group. This phased structure directly supersedes the transitional, 2018-2023 “transformative agreement” framing that still anchors Wikipedia’s implementation section.
- Three strategic priorities replace the earlier single-minded focus on the 2021 compliance deadline.
- A defined two-phase timetable (2026-2027, then 2028-2030) gives institutions a planning horizon Wikipedia’s article does not mention.
- Financial support for transformative arrangements ended on 31 December 2024, closing a funding route Wikipedia still frames as open until “2023”.
Common questions
What is Plan S in open access?
Plan S requires that peer-reviewed publications resulting from research funded by cOAlition S members be made immediately open access on publication, with no embargo, under an open licence such as CC BY 4.0. Authors must retain copyright. The requirement applied to grants awarded from 1 January 2021 onward.
What are the five pillars of Wikipedia?
Wikipedia operates on five pillars: it functions as an encyclopedia, is written from a neutral point of view, offers free content anyone can use or edit, expects civility among editors, and has no firm rules. Those norms explain why fast-moving funder guidance, like Plan S’s, can lag behind primary sources between volunteer edits.
What this means for institutions and publishers
Research administrators, library staff, and publishers who cite Wikipedia’s Plan S article as a compliance reference should treat it as a starting point, not a current-state document. Anyone advising on plan s open access obligations should verify funding-route and deadline details directly against cOAlition S’s guidance pages before applying them to a grant, agreement, or institutional policy — particularly anything touching transformative agreements, which stopped receiving cOAlition S funding at the end of 2024, not 2023.
This pattern is not unique to Plan S. Fast-moving standards and funder mandates routinely outrun general-reference encyclopedia coverage, which depends on volunteer editors noticing and sourcing each change. The practical fix is straightforward: use Wikipedia to orient, then confirm operative dates, funding rules, and current strategic priorities against the originating body’s own published guidance.
For related standards and terminology used across research administration, see CASRAI’s open research dictionary and the research administration pillar.
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