BioOne is not the typical large publisher for journals, they are a non-profit that publishes for non-profits. Their goal aligns with IBA values for sustainable publishing and finding ways to make publishing science affordable and available to everyone. In line with this goal, they looked for innovative ways to make articles open access while still providing income to non-profits like IBA, so we can continue publishing Ursus. The result is Subscribe to Open (S2O) which depends on libraries and institutional subscriptions to BioOne allowing small journals like Ursus to publish all papers open access without losing the critical revenue from downloads that supports the production of Ursus.
Thanks to the support of subscribing institutions and the global library community, the 2026 BioOne Subscribe to Open (S2O) threshold has been reached, making all Ursus articles published in 2026 freely available worldwide at no cost to authors. This milestone represents a significant step forward in making research accessible to everyone. Read the announcement from BioOne.
What this means:
- All research published in Ursus in 2026 will be Open Access
- Authors pay zero Article Processing Charges (APCs)
- Research reaches the widest possible audience
- Sustainable funding model supports the journal’s operations
This success demonstrates the power of community-supported publishing. We’re grateful to the libraries and institutions whose subscriptions to BioOne Complete made this possible, and to our authors and readers who continue to trust us with their research and their time.
Looking Ahead:
The Subscribe to Open model requires annual renewal of institutional subscription support. To ensure 2027 content can also be made openly available, we encourage institutions to maintain their BioOne Complete subscriptions or start a new subscription. Libraries can contact [email protected] to learn more.
Thank you for being part of this achievement. Together, we’re building a more accessible future for scholarly communication.