ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿Expands Open Access: 6 Journals Available in 2025 Via S2O
Washington, D.C.– The ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ (ASM), the leading publisher of microbial science, has successfully met its sustainability target for the 2025 subscription year under its  (S2O) publishing model. As a result, articles in the 2025 volume of ASM’s 6 S2O journals will be published open access, ensuring that scientists and stakeholders worldwide can freely access critical microbiology research.
This milestone marks a significant step in ASM’s ongoing support of open access and its mission to support the global scientific community. ASM’s strategic shift to an S2O model this year, which it first announced in 2023, aims to enhance accessibility, foster collaboration and accelerate innovation in the microbial sciences. 
“Our commitment to open access and transition to the S2O model continues to drive meaningful progress,” said Melissa Junior, Executive Publisher, ASM. “As a scientific society dedicated to global knowledge-sharing, we believe the S2O model offers a more sustainable and fair approach to open access, ensuring that important research remains freely available to all.”
By eliminating financial barriers, S2O ensures that scientists, including early career researchers and those with limited resources, can engage with and contribute to the scientific community. Unlike other conventional subscription and article processing charge (APC) models, the S2O model distributes costs across authors, institutions and funders. Even if sustainability targets are not met, the model eliminates APCs and provides significant savings with on page charges and supplemental material fees for authors—especially for authors who are both ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿members and from a subscribing institution—making high-quality publishing more accessible and affordable.
Thanks to the tremendous support of subscribing institutions and libraries, ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿has successfully met its sustainability targets, unlocking additional benefits for the global research community. Now, all 6 ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿S2O journals allow authors at all institutions—regardless of subscription status—to publish open access, comply with open-access policies and explore the journals’ content. As more publishers are able to provide a sustainable and immediate route to open access publishing, vast bodies of research will become freely available that would otherwise remain gated.
Among its 16 peer-reviewed journals, ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿publishes 7 fully open access journals, 6 S2O journals and 3 review journals. Its journal articles account for 18% of all microbiology articles and 21% of all microbiology citations. With the successful transition of more journals to open access for 2025, ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿looks forward to expanding its global reach and the impact of its research.
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The ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of over 37,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences. 
ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to all audiences. 
