We learn about academic research through its publication in specialised journals – it's peer reviewed and made widely available to anyone who’s interested, but at a price.

And it’s the rising cost of subscribing to these journals that has led to a strained relationship between the commercial publishing houses and the universities and their researchers.

It’s a system that has been in operation for a long time but now there are moves to fundamentally change it. Martin Borchert explains the ideas behind Plan S and the shift towards open access scholarship.