MyAthens Plus end of free trial FAQ

The MyAthens Plus trial period ended on 25 May 2022. This guidance is for those customers who have yet to confirm whether they want to continue using MyAthens Plus beyond this date.

What is MyAthens?

The aim of MyAthens is to be the true starting point for research and a key part of helping learners and researchers to achieve the great things they do every day. At its core, MyAthens is a way for users to see all the OpenAthens resources they have access to in one place and builds on the existing OpenAthens configuration so that users only see the resources they have available to them.

What is the difference between MyAthens Basic and MyAthens Plus?

MyAthens has two tiers: MyAthens Basic, which is available at no extra charge and includes basic account management functionality and limited customization options, and MyAthens Plus, which is a paid-for service that has all the additional features.

Why do I have to pay for MyAthens Plus?

Prior to 2021, MyAthens was last redeveloped over 15 years ago. There were a number of usability and accessibility issues with the product. We saw an exciting opportunity to improve the core MyAthens product and provide new features and functionality to make it even more useful. In 2021 we undertook a complete user-focused redesign with the key priority being how we can provide the best possible user experience for learners and research as well as OpenAthens administrators.

With this shift towards a paid-for version of MyAthens we want to ensure its long-term sustainability and success as we invest the additional revenue back into the product. This means it won’t be 15 years until the next update or improvement and we can ensure the product will continue to grow into the future. Find out more about how we're continuously improving MyAthens Plus at the MyAthens product journal.

Why was there a free trial period for MyAthens Plus?

The new version of MyAthens was launched in May 2021. All existing OpenAthens customers were given a MyAthens Plus introductory period for the first year after launch at no extra cost. This introductory period was designed to help you test new features, provide feedback and decide if MyAthens Plus will meet your needs.

What will happen if I choose not to continue my subscription to MyAthens Plus?

If your organization does not want to continue using the Plus version, it will be automatically migrated to MyAthens Basic shortly after the trial period ends. We have given customers a two-week grace period between the end of the trial period on Wednesday 25 May and when their accounts will be migrated to Basic.

Those customers migrating to MyAthens Basic will lose all existing customizations made to the main page where you can add content and information for your users in the form of cards. Once migrated, these changes will be irreversible. 

As part of MyAthens Basic, you can add one button card and one text card. If you are concerned about losing information contained in an existing button and/or text card, we recommend saving this information offline before you are migrated to MyAthens Basic. 

What should I do if I want to continue using MyAthens Plus?

Contact your OpenAthens representative before 13 June 2022 to keep using MyAthens Plus with your existing configurations.

You can upgrade from Basic to Plus at any time after this date and take advantage of the exciting new features explained in our MyAthens product journal.