The Company of Biologists announced today that all three of its journals will offer a year-long experiment with open access starting in January 2004. COB is adopting what I call the Walker-Prosser model in which authors of accepted papers have the option to buy open access to them by paying the journal's expenses in conducting peer review and preparing the electronic editions. For some initial period, COB will even subsidize the processing fee. For authors who do not choose the immediate open-access option, COB still provides open access after a six-month embargo. (PS: Kudos to COB for this taking this step. In my view, the Walker-Prosser method is the best way for journal publishers to learn the methods and economics of open-access publishing and make an informed decision about full-scale conversion.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/29/2003 08:46:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
