The architect of Plan S has argued that universities are to blame for early career researchers’ concerns about Europe’s proposed shift towards open access publishing.

Since being unveiled in September, Plan S has been backed by funding agencies in 15 countries across Europe and, most recently, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It will in effect ban researchers funded by these organisations from publishing in closed-access subscription journals, obligating them to make their work freely and easily available via open-access platforms.

But there is a growing backlash to the proposals, particularly among early career researchers who face particular pressure to publish in high-impact journals in order to further their careers.

An open letter detailing researchers’ concerns about Plan S, which has been signed by more than 1,200 people, complains that the proposals would impinge on academic freedom by restricting their choice of where to publish.

Students in European universities were “already starting to wonder if it is wise to do a PhD in a [Plan S-affiliated] country, or rather move to another country to increase their chances of a successful career”, the letter says.

One signatory of the letter told THE that she was considering moving to Germany or Switzerland – which are yet to sign up to the initiative – or even further afield in order to continue her academic career.

Eva Meeus, a master’s student at the University of Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, said that she wanted to do a PhD in biochemistry “but it really concerns me that I won’t have the freedom to publish where I want if I stay here in the Netherlands”.

“While I support open access and believe it is a good thing, I think it could be delivered in a way which is less risky and destructive,” she said. “At the moment, I worry I will be ignored by international collaborators if my name is not published [in established journals] and excluded from projects because I cannot publish where they want to.”

But Robert-Jan Smits, the European Commission’s open access envoy, disagreed that junior academics would be put at a disadvantage as a result of differences in global publishing cultures.

The real issue posing a threat to junior academics, he argued, was the “persistent culture” within institutions that encouraged evaluation of junior researchers based on where they have been published, not the quality of the actual publications.

“Universities that are supposed to extend the frontiers of knowledge can sometimes be so conservative and have difficulties moving forward new practices. I’ve come to the conclusion that...sometimes the funders have to intervene because the necessary culture change will not happen by itself,” Mr Smits said. “Plan S will encourage institutions to reconsider the way they measure researchers’ value.”

Mr Smits said that much of the criticism over Plan S was based on “misinterpretation” of its vision and he argued that it was “a mistake to think Plan S will spell the end of international collaborations”.

Mr Smits has already spoken to US officials in a bid to build broader support for Plan S, and was seeking to build support in Asia, too.

He is due to meet with representatives from the early career researcher community at the Young Academy of Europe meeting in Barcelona later this month.

“It is in our interests to include early career researchers in the development of Plan S and I look forward to the discussions taking place,” Mr Smits said.

rachael.pells@timeshighereducation.com