PeerJ. The Latest Open Access Online Scientific Publisher
June 20, 2012
More challenges for the traditional database world: Technology Review reveals that “Open Access Online Publishing Trend Continues in Academia.” In the traditionally “pay to play” world of scientific journals, the new PeerJ chooses a route less traveled. So far.
While not technically free, the cost of membership is slim compared to the traditional setup. Reporter Conor Myhrvold writes:
“The pass comes in the form of a journal membership, so you can access others’ articles. The most basic plan, for one article a year, is $99 if you pay before you’re published. The article still undergoes peer review before it can be accepted. Members also have to commit to doing at least one peer review per year (which could be an informal comment on an already published paper.) The first 12 authors of an article need to be members, yet this means that the price of publishing just one article—$1,548 for 12 authors if membership is done after submission—is substantially cheaper than the several thousand dollars it would cost under a conventional open-access publishing model”
PeerJ is not the first to challenge customary conventions of scientific publishing. A controversy has been taking place over the last few years because the profit margins of academic journals can be almost 40 percent. If they are doing so outlandishly well, couldn’t they drop the authors’ fees and get their money from readers like other publishing sectors? Large journal publishers like Elsevier say no; are they fighting a losing battle?
Cynthia Murrell, June 20, 2012
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