Gold open access publisher Frontiers and the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) have agreed a national framework to support open access publishing for eligible SANLiC member institutions. It is the first partnership between SANLiC and a fully open access publisher and builds on the strong and growing relationship between Frontiers and the South African research community.
SANLiC representative Glenn Truran , SANLiC Director, highlighted:
“South African research output in Frontiers' full open access journals has been growing. This agreement gives our members a practical way to support open access publishing with Frontiers while making costs more predictable and manageable. It is an important step in helping South African researchers share their work openly for the common good and take part in the global research community."
The agreement will provide participating universities, research councils, and government research institutions with a streamlined route to publish open access in Frontiers’ full journal portfolio with no costs to individual authors. Instead, publication fees are paid by institutions, with invoicing and payments handled centrally by the consortium. This allows institutions to both plan cost-effective budgets and avoid unnecessary administrative burdens.
Tom Thayer , Director of Institutional Partnerships at Frontiers, said:
"We are delighted to partner with SANLiC and its member institutions to support and further strengthen the growing Frontiers' research community in South Africa. Through closer collaboration with university libraries, this agreement creates new opportunities for researchers to publish open access, reducing barriers for authors and helping increase the visibility, reach, and impact of South African research worldwide."
Institutions can join the agreement before the end of 2026, with participation taking effect from 1 November 2026.
Institutions joining before the end of the year will also gain access to Frontiers’ FAIR² Data Management offering, supporting compliant, citable, and reusable research data outputs as part of their open access commitments.