A simple recipe for a truly open, prestigious, society-owned journal
Is there anything wrong with the current model of scientific publishing, and, if so, can we, practising researchers, do anything about it? I argue that the answer to both questions is yes. The publication costs charged by scientific journals are often frustratingly high, and the growing flood of articles published each week makes it increasingly difficult to maintain high peer review standards, putting the credibility of science in threat. But I also argue that we have the power to change this, it is just a matter of taking a couple of rather simple steps. And I think it’s our responsibility to take them. So, let us start with a more detailed diagnosis of what is wrong. It can be summarised in two interrelated points. 1) The current publication environment dominated by for-profit publishers makes science exclusive in two ways. Firstly, journal subscriptions have become an increasing strain on libraries budgets and have always been hard to...