The Big Ten Academic Alliance and the Biochemical Society Sign Read & Publish Agreement in Support of Open Access Publishing

The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) and the Biochemical Society are delighted to announce a Read & Publish agreement that supports the open sharing of research and knowledge from across the molecular biosciences.

The agreement guarantees uncapped, fee-free open access (OA) publishing for corresponding authors at participating institutions, alongside full read access to all Biochemical Society journals (published by the Society’s publishing arm, Portland Press). 

With this agreement, thirteen BTAA institutions across the United States join more than 200 others around the world already taking advantage of Read & Publish benefits. The agreement covers over 50 campuses, supporting hassle-free OA for US-based authors publishing across all areas of molecular bioscience.

Authors can check if their institution is signed up via the Society’s Read & Publish page.

Working with publishing representative, Accucoms, the parties have signed this three-year agreement to benefit molecular bioscientists in large research-intensive universities in 10 US states. Coming into effect immediately, the period will extend until the end of 2026.

“Open publishing agreements are a key part of the Big Ten Academic Alliance strategy to disseminate the scholarship of our authors and advance equitable, inclusive scholarship across our community,” said Maurice York, Director of Library Initiatives at the Big Ten Academic Alliance. “We’re excited to have reached an agreement with the Biochemical Society/Portland Press to further our mutual goals.”

In response to the announcement, Professor Nigel Hooper, Chair of Portland Press Board, said: “We are extremely pleased to launch this agreement, which furthers the open access goals of both the Biochemical Society and the Big Ten Academic Alliance in support of sustainable and equitable publishing models and open science. Most importantly, it offers researchers across world-leading institutions a seamless and fee-free route to OA publishing and the best means of maximizing the impact and reach of their work.”

"We are delighted to announce our successful mediation in bringing the BTAA and the Biochemical Society/Portland Press together in a groundbreaking agreement. This transformative collaboration not only demonstrates our commitment to fostering unrestricted, fee-free open access (OA) publishing for institutions and authors, but it also marks a significant milestone in eliminating the barriers to OA publishing." Kimberly Blizzard, Commercial Manager North America, Accucoms

Big Ten institutions participating under this agreement effective immediately through 2026:

• Indiana University
• Michigan State University
• Northwestern University
• Ohio State University
• Purdue University
• Rutgers University
• University of Chicago
• University of Illinois
• University of Iowa
• University of Maryland
• University of Michigan
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• University of Wisconsin-Madison

All Biochemical Society journals are included:

• Biochemical Journal
• Clinical Science
• Bioscience Reports (OA)
• Neuronal Signaling (OA)
• Biochemical Society Transactions
• Essays in Biochemistry
• Emerging Topics in Life Sciences (co-owned with the Royal Society of Biology)

Biochemical Society/Portland Press Ltd

The Biochemical Society works in partnership with researchers, institutions, and funders to share knowledge and advance the molecular biosciences. Publishing world-leading research and reviews, we return all related profits to the bioscience community in support of our charitable activities. Publishing under our wholly-owned publisher, Portland Press, our aligned OA models are helping us transition fully with the aim of offering all authors compliant OA routes to publication by February 2025.  Find out more about open science at the Society and its transition to open.