Professor Deborah Andrew, Johns Hopkins University, USA

More than for any of our other papers, we wanted to be sure the data in this paper was accessible to everyone in the community. We were delighted to learn that Johns Hopkins has a fee-free Open Access agreement with The Company of Biologists. Otherwise, we would have struggled with the decision of whether to pay the traditional Open Access fees.

Assistant Professor Eleanor Caves, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

I was delighted to be able to make use of a Read & Publish agreement to make our work available Open Access in Journal of Experimental Biology (JEB). All of the authors on our team value Open Access, but because we didn’t have specific dedicated funds for this project, we wouldn’t have been able to publish our work Open Access if not for the Read & Publish agreement. I also really value how easy the process was—no onerous paperwork—which I think really helps encourage authors to make use of this service. I have always felt that the publishing process at JEB was one of the most painless and author-friendly of any journal, and having the ability to publish Open Access so easily has cemented that view in my mind. Publishing in The Company of Biologists’ journals is a model of what Open Access publishing should be.

Nandan Nerurkar, Columbia University, USA

Open Access is the right thing for science, and it’s so much easier to do the right thing when it is free! I’m very thankful to Columbia and The Company of Biologists for absorbing the cost of open access publishing through the Read & Publish agreement. The money saved will directly advance our research into gut morphogenesis, as well as efforts to support the training of diverse and inspired scientists of the future.

Associate Professor Theresa M. Casey, Purdue University, USA

I was thrilled when I found out that Purdue University has a fee-free Open Access Read & Publish agreement with The Company of Biologists. Saving these dollars allowed me to spend dollars on research, and not publication fees. Publishing Open Access increases readership and sharing of data.

Jessica Tingle, The University of Akron, USA

For the second time, I find myself very thankful for the agreement between The Company of Biologists and The University of Akron. I very much favor publishing my articles Open Access, but as a post-doc with limited funds, I can’t pay for high APCs. The Read & Publish agreement has twice given me the opportunity of APC-free Open Access!

Assistant Professor Khursheed Iqbal, Oklahoma State University, USA

The free Open Access option proved the optimal choice, not just by simplifying the process but also by granting us publication in a prestigious journal like Development, all without the usual financial burden. This is truly a game-changer for science publishing. This sets a powerful precedent for a more equitable and accessible scientific publishing landscape. I hope more journals adopt this model, paving the way for a future where Open Access becomes the norm.

Professor Tristan Rodriguez, Imperial College London, UK

I am extremely happy to publish our work Open Access. It is so important to ensure that we can share our peer reviewed work and make it as widely available as possible. We are grateful to The Company of Biologists and Imperial College London for making this possible through their Read & Publish agreement and couldn’t recommend highly enough publishing in Development. The process was seamless, and it is one of the things I feel proudest of in my career.

Blaise Newman, University of Georgia, USA

Publishing in an Open Access journal is rewarding because your work becomes accessible to a broader audience. However, the expenses associated with Open Access journals can be a barrier, especially for research projects with limited funding. Fortunately, our institution’s Read & Publish agreement with The Company of Biologists allowed us to publish our article fee-free and Open Access in Biology Open. This agreement is exceptionally valuable for researchers and provides an excellent opportunity to share their work without financial constraints.

Professor Doug Winton, CRUK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, UK

We were delighted that The Company of Biologists has a Read & Publish agreement with the University of Cambridge. Such agreements are fundamental to the culture of Open Access without financial burden. It’s great to see agreements in place which include less-established institutions and researchers and ensure better access to publishing across the globe.

Brooke Morriswood, University of Würzburg, Germany

Being able to publish the group’s article immediately under a Read & Publish agreement with the University of Würzburg massively streamlined the final stages of the publication process. Instead of protracted paperwork, the post-acceptance process was completed extremely quickly and the fact that the article was immediately Open Access was the icing on the cake.

It’s fantastic to see a top-tier publishing house such as The Company of Biologists taking such proactive steps to ensure that research reaches the public domain as fast as possible and that researchers can spend their time (and money!) focusing on science.