Plan S, an initiative for scientists to publish outside paywalls, has made waves in the publishing industry. Host Nikesh Gosalia and Duncan MacRae tackle the relevant topic of open access in scholarly publishing. Duncan talks about journals transitioning from subscription-based to open access, inefficiencies in journal workflow, and the importance of peer review in medical publishing. They also discuss how new journals have trouble being discovered, as well as the challenge of getting an impact factor as search indexes become increasingly exclusionary. Finally, Duncan shares his thoughts on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic societies, particularly, on their revenue, and the long-term viability of virtual alternatives.

Duncan MacRae is the Director of Editorial Strategy and Publishing Policy at Wolters Kluwer Health. He is involved in implementing editorial policies for open access publications in Wolters Kluwer and Medknow. With almost 25 years of experience in academic publishing for societies, he has worked as a Managing Editor for the publications Neurosurgery and Brain Pathology. Duncan can be reached on Twitter.

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