This article offers a personal perspective on the current state of academic publishing, and posits that the scientific community is beset with journals that contribute little valuable knowledge, overload the community's capacity for high-quality peer review, and waste resources. Open access publishing can offer solutions that benefit researchers and other information users, as well as institutions and funders, but commercial journal publishers have influenced open access policies and practices in ways that favor their economic interests over those of other stakeholders in knowledge creation and sharing. One way to free research from constraints on access is the diamond route of open access publishing, in which institutions and funders that produce new knowledge reclaim responsibility for publication via institutional journals or other open platforms. I argue that research journals (especially those published for profit) may no longer be fit for purpose, and hope that readers will consider whether the time has come to put responsibility for publishing back into the hands of researchers and their institutions. The potential advantages and challenges involved in a shift away from for-profit journals in favor of institutional open access publishing are explored.
Deep Dive into Can scientists and their institutions become their own open access publishers?.
This article offers a personal perspective on the current state of academic publishing, and posits that the scientific community is beset with journals that contribute little valuable knowledge, overload the community’s capacity for high-quality peer review, and waste resources. Open access publishing can offer solutions that benefit researchers and other information users, as well as institutions and funders, but commercial journal publishers have influenced open access policies and practices in ways that favor their economic interests over those of other stakeholders in knowledge creation and sharing. One way to free research from constraints on access is the diamond route of open access publishing, in which institutions and funders that produce new knowledge reclaim responsibility for publication via institutional journals or other open platforms. I argue that research journals (especially those published for profit) may no longer be fit for purpose, and hope that readers will consi
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Can scientists and their institutions become their own
open access publishers?
© 2017 Karen Shashok
Translator and Editorial Consultant, Granada, Spain
(Note 1)
Correspondence:
Karen Shashok
C./ Compositor Ruiz Aznar 12, 2-A
18008 Granada, Spain
Tel: +34 958 812305, email: kshashok@kshashok.com
ORCID: 0000-0002-2506-1390
Abstract
This article offers a personal perspective on the current state of academic publishing, and
posits that the scientific community is beset with journals that contribute little valuable
knowledge, overload the community’s capacity for high-quality peer review, and waste
resources. Open access publishing can offer solutions that benefit researchers and other
information users, as well as institutions and funders, but commercial journal publishers
have influenced open access policies and practices in ways that favor their economic
interests over those of other stakeholders in knowledge creation and sharing. One way to
free research from constraints on access is the diamond route of open access publishing, in
which institutions and funders that produce new knowledge reclaim responsibility for
publication via institutional journals or other open platforms. I argue that research journals
(especially those published for profit) may no longer be fit for purpose, and hope that
readers will consider whether the time has come to put responsibility for publishing back
into the hands of researchers and their institutions. The potential advantages and challenges
involved in a shift away from for-profit journals in favor of institutional open access
publishing are explored.
Keywords: academic publishing, diamond, editors, ethics, funders, gold, green,
institutions, journals, open access, peer review, research center, research quality,
researchers, stakeholders
¿Pueden los científicos y sus instituciones convertirse en editoriales de acceso abierto
por si mismos?
Resumen
Este artículo ofrece una perspectiva personal a propósito del estado actual de la edición
académica, y propone que la comunidad científica se encuentra lastrada por las muchas
revistas que contribuyen pocos conocimientos de valor, sobrecargan la capacidad común de
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proporcionar una revisión experta de calidad, y desperdician los recursos. La edición en
acceso abierto puede ofrecer soluciones que benefician a los investigadores y otros usuarios
de la información, además de las instituciones y los patrocinadores, pero las editoriales
comerciales de revistas científicas han influido en las políticas y prácticas del acceso
abierto mediante vías que favorecen sus intereses económicos por encima de los intereses
de otras partes interesadas en la creación y diseminación de conocimientos. Una manera de
liberar a la investigación de las restricciones al acceso es la vía diamante de edición en
acceso abierto, en la cual las instituciones y los patrocinadores que producen los nuevos
conocimientos reclaman la responsabilidad de la edición a través de revistas institucionales
u otras plataformas abiertas. Propongo que las revistas de investigación (sobre todo
aquellas que son editadas como productos comerciales) ya no cumplen con su finalidad
original, y espero que los lectores se planteen si es oportuno o no devolver a los
investigadores y sus instituciones la responsabilidad de la edición y diseminación. Se
exploran las ventajas potenciales así como los retos relacionados con el abandono
progresivo de las revistas comerciales a favor de la edición institucional en acceso abierto.
Palabras clave: acceso abierto, calidad de la investigación, centros de investigación,
diamante, dorado, edición académica, editor, ética, financiación, instituciones,
investigadores, revisión por expertos, revistas, partes interesadas, verde
Note 1. Why does open access matter to me?
As a science-technical-medical translator and authors’ editor [29] I often need to learn
technical terminology and concepts quickly. But I cannot afford publishers’ paywalls for
useful-looking articles. Some publishers’ online journal platforms make it difficult to find
the corresponding author’s email address to request a copy – or do not provide one at all.
Some authors never get the final pdf of their own articles [6,17] or are afraid to share them
even in response to individual requests for research or teaching purposes. Some researchers
have told me that the publisher’s terms and conditions forbid person-to-person sharing.
Some who have complied with take-down notices have told me they were afraid that
noncompliance would place them on a blacklist and make it harder for them to publish
again in the same journal or other journals owned by the same publisher.
For me as a user of information, the current system is an obstacle that sometimes
prevents me from doing my work as well as I could. For researchers more generally,
restrictions on sharing undermi
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