The Directory of Open Access Journals has dropped the terms "author fees" and "author pays" from the search filter and journal records within its new "for authors" section. Instead, it now refers to "publication fees".
Comment. Many thanks to the DOAJ. This is just a change of terminology, but it's a very welcome and important one. The new language is neutral, as it should be, on who pays the fees at fee-based OA journals and no longer leaves the false impression that the fees must be paid by authors. In fact, the fees are often waived or paid by the author's employer or funder. I hope the change propagates throughout the academic world.
The DOAJ was always precise enough to use the old terms only for fee-based OA journals, and now its language is even more precise. Many scholars, publishers, and journalists, however, have an even greater correction to make, since they still use the old terms for all OA journals whatsoever and therefore even for no-fee OA journals.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/07/2006 03:59:00 PM.
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.
