UMass Amherst Libraries Joins Lyrasis in an Open Access Publishing Agreement with The Royal Society

The UMass Amherst Libraries have joined Lyrasis in an agreement with The Royal Society that covers open access publication charges in its 10 scholarly journals. Article manuscripts by UMass Amherst corresponding authors accepted since January 1, 2026 are eligible to be published under an open Creative Commons (CC BY or CC BY-NC) license with no charge to the author. The Royal Society is the United Kingdom’s national academy of science, and it achieved an entirely open access journal portfolio in 2026 with the support of libraries and consortia. 

Leticja Flamuraj, PhD student in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and R. Craig Albertson, Professor of Biology, recently had their manuscript, “Integration and evolution of the cichlid pharyngeal skeleton: Seeking the causes and consequences of trait covariation” accepted by Proceedings of the Royal Society B with open access publication charges covered by the new agreement. Leticja says, “I am very grateful for the opportunity to publish part of my dissertation research open access, especially during a time when funding for scientific research is facing significant challenges. This agreement between UMass Amherst Libraries and The Royal Society not only makes scientific research more accessible to a broader audience but also alleviates the financial burden on early-career scientists. This is a fantastic way to demonstrate that UMass cares about its researchers!” 

UMass Amherst corresponding authors published 16 articles, 13 of them open access, in The Royal Society’s journals between 2023-2025. Open access articles are available to anyone, anywhere to view and cite. Equally important, authors retain their copyright, which enables UMass Amherst researchers to more easily comply with funder public access requirements. It is one of several agreements that offers low or no-cost open access publication to UMass Amherst corresponding authors. 

For more information about how to publish open access under The Royal Society or any other publisher agreement, contact Christine Turner, Scholarly Communication Librarian, scholarlypublishing@library.umass.edu.