The Company of Biologists renews Read & Publish agreement with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

15 October 2026

The Company of Biologists is pleased to announce the renewal of our Read & Publish Open Access agreement with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) from 2027-2029. The renewal comes after another successful agreement, with our Spanish agent, Prenax being fundamental in further strengthening the connection.

The agreement means that corresponding authors at more than 100 CSIC research institutes will now benefit from publishing an uncapped number of accepted Open Access research articles in our two fully Open Access journals – Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open, in addition to our hybrid journals, Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology – without paying an article processing charge (APC). Researchers at participating institutions also benefit from unlimited access to the journals and their archives dating back to 1853.

Agnès Ponsati, Director of Unit of Scientific Information Resources for Research at CSIC, says:

“The renewal of the agreement with The Company of Biologists for the period 2027-2029 responds to the positive assessment of a collaboration that has allowed the CSIC research community to publish open access at no additional cost to authors, expand the visibility and access to content of scientific interest and maintain a sustainable and efficient model for the institution. With this renewal, the CSIC also reinforces its commitment to supporting independent publishers and non-profit scientific societies, key actors for diverse and quality scientific communication and consolidates a collaboration of great value for research in experimental biology.”

Leonor Silva, Country Manager at Prenax Spain, says:

“We are proud to partner with publishers such as The Company of Biologists in delivering added value to CSIC through solutions that support research excellence, enhance the visibility of scientific output, and expand opportunities for engagement with the global scholarly community. We look forward to further developing this successful collaboration and to welcoming new institutions to the growing network of leading Spanish institutions that are already supporting and benefiting from this initiative.”

Rich Blount, International Sales Manager at The Company of Biologists, says:

“The renewal of our Read & Publish agreement with CSIC marks another important milestone in our longstanding relationship with one of Europe’s leading research institutions. By continuing this partnership, we are reinforcing our commitment to open scholarship and helping researchers maximise the reach and impact of their work. We greatly appreciate the support and collaboration of Prenax Spain during the negotiation process and look forward to working together to deliver value to the Spanish research community over the next three years.”

View current participating institutions

About the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

The Spanish National Research Council is the main agent responsible for implementing the Spanish System for Science, Technology and Innovation. It is part of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. CSIC’s mission is to promote, coordinate, develop and disseminate scientific and technological multidisciplinary research, in order to contribute to the progress of knowledge and economic, social and cultural development; as well as to train researchers and provide advice to public and private entities in these fields.

About The Company of Biologists

The Company of Biologists is a not-for-profit publishing organisation dedicated to supporting and inspiring the biological community. We partner with libraries and library consortia to enable biologists worldwide to access our leading peer-reviewed hybrid journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology.

We have a long-standing and ongoing commitment to Open Access. Our cost-neutral Read & Publish initiative enables corresponding authors at participating institutions to publish an uncapped number of OA research articles in our hybrid journals and our two fully OA journals – Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open – without paying an Article Processing Charge (APC). We were the first not-for-profit publisher to commit to the Transformative Journal approach and our journals were the first to be awarded Transformative Journal status by Plan S. Over 1,000 institutions in 57 countries are now participating in our cost-neutral Read & Publish OA initiative. We also have Read & Publish agreements with many library consortia.

Learn more about our new bio-positive publishing initiative, The Forest of Biologists.