EMS Press announces third year of full open access with Subscribe to Open
Laura Simonite
Publisher confirms sustainability thresholds met, while making measured compromises to safeguard long-term resilience
EMS Press – the publishing house of the European Mathematical Society – today announces a third consecutive year of full open access across all 22 of its Subscribe to Open (S2O) journals. All articles published in 2026 volumes will carry a CC BY 4.0 licence, guaranteeing open access in perpetuity.
Speaking on the news, CEO Dr. André Gaul said: “We are delighted to continue supporting truly inclusive mathematics by making more content openly available for another year. We see the benefits of open access clearly in our community, with institutional usage more than tripling since 2022, and growing engagement from institutions worldwide.”
Dr. Gaul added: “We’re proud that baseline sustainability targets have again been met, securing full open access for 2026. At the same time, the pace at which we can deliver additional improvements depends on the level of participation from subscribing institutions. While we are pleased that libraries and consortia continue to value our publications and have confidence in our approach to open access, increased participation is necessary to accelerate progress on the developments our community needs.”
In 2026, EMS Press introduced a secondary Initiatives target to fund work beyond baseline sustainability, including improvements to accessibility. While the baseline target was achieved, the Initiatives target was not fully met, meaning some developments will proceed on a phased timetable. The next milestone in EMS Press’s accessibility programme, focusing on ground-up formats that better support assistive technologies, is now planned for Q2–Q3 2026 for Groups, Geometry, and Dynamics and the Journal of Noncommutative Geometry. Rollout to the wider portfolio will follow on a revised timetable.
To support these projects in future years, EMS Press will review its subscriber benefits to ensure a fair and sustainable balance between open access, future-facing developments, and the incentives that underpin the S2O model. Current subscriber benefits include access to more than 700 ‘Online First’ articles, providing early access to peer-reviewed content ahead of issue publication.
Details of the 2027 S2O round will be announced later this year. In the meantime, EMS Press encourages libraries, consortia, funders and national groups to get in touch to learn more about participation: renewals secure access, support open access, and broader participation enables faster delivery of new initiatives.
— CONTACT —
Please contact communications@ems.press for all enquiries.
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