New deal makes RIA Journals free to read and publish for IReL and JISC institutions

The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) is pleased to announce a 2021-2023 Read and Publish agreement with IReL, the Irish e-resources licensing consortium for leading higher education institutions in Ireland.

The agreement enables students, faculty, and researchers at eight universities to gain access to the content in journals published by the Royal Irish Academy dating back to 1787.

In addition, articles by university-affiliated corresponding authors that are accepted for publication from 1 January 2021 in RIA hybrid journals will be made open access immediately upon publication without any article-processing charge.

The Academy ultimately wishes to make the journals ‘Platinum open access’ (giving permanent and free access to published works for readers with no publication fees for the authors, regardless of affiliation) and will do so if similar ‘Read and Publish’ deals are signed and maintained with 30 institutions. Institutions wishing to get involved should contact publications@ria.ie.

“This deal will bring new readers to the Academy’s journals. I also hope that it will bring new authors contributing high-quality original research. We are delighted to be working with IReL to open up to more people the treasure trove of articles dating back to 1787” said Royal Irish Academy’s President, Dr Mary Canning.

Jack Hyland, the IReL Manager said, ‘‘IReL is very happy to partner with RIA in signing its first transformative open access agreement with an Irish publisher, one that has a long history of collaboration with IReL’s members. We are particularly supportive of RIA’s commitment to using this agreement as a steppingstone to making its journals fully open access without restrictions to any readers or authors.”

In addition to the IReL agreement, we have a similar offer via JISC, a United Kingdom not-for-profit company that supports institutions of higher education and research. Our JISC offer is an unlimited 'Read & Publish' transitional Agreement covering the Royal Irish Academy's six hybrid journals, and it is available to all Jisc-affiliated institutions in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

The journals can be accessed and submissions made at https://www.ria.ie/journals