Subscribe to Open

[7] The Subscribe to Open model was first introduced in 2017[1] by the publisher Annual Reviews in consultation with Raym Crow and with a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

[6] Some S2O publishers may offer incentives to subscribing libraries for renewing under S2O terms, such as discounted subscription rates or enhanced back-volume availability.

[1][3] Incentives may counter the free-rider sustainability challenge,[12] which can accompany mutual assurance contracts, and is the most commonly expressed concern about S2O’s viability.

[13] S2O is presented not as a donation but as “a categorical business offer within the journal's existing subscription process” that appeals to the libraries’ economic self-interest.

[14] In terms of journal readership, the Annual Review of Public Health (ARPH) which was the first title to implement S2O, had an eight-times increase in usage from May 2016 to May 2019.

During the same time period usage levels for Annual Reviews’ traditional subscription journals remained relatively unchanged.