Beyond Access: Advancing Open Access Publishing through an Academic Consortium in Korea

Abstract

The transition toward open access (OA) publishing is reshaping scholarly communication by increasing article processing charges (APCs), widening disparities in institutional publishing capacity, and exposing growing misalignment between traditional subscription-based cost sharing and publishing activity. These changes call for coordinated approaches that rebalance financial responsibilities beyond the institutional level.

In Korea, the Academic Consortium of Electronic Resources (ACE), the national consortium for licensing electronic resources coordinated by the Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS), addresses these challenges through publication-tier-based funding within transformative agreements. Moving beyond traditional subscription-centered resource sharing, ACE combines national funding with publication-tier-based institutional cost sharing to better align institutional contributions with publishing activity while maintaining equitable OA publishing opportunities. ACE also supports complementary OA models, including Subscribe-to-Open (S2O).

Beyond national agreements, academic libraries contribute to a sustainable OA ecosystem through OA publishing support, institutional repositories, partnerships, and OA awareness initiatives.

This poster presents the KERIS–Wiley Read & Publish Agreement as a case study of publication-tier-based funding rebalancing. It demonstrates how coordinated national funding, differentiated institutional contributions, and complementary library initiatives can promote a more equitable and sustainable OA ecosystem.