Beware ¡®naive¡¯ switch to ¡®utopian¡¯ diamond journals, warns editor

Diamond open-access journals are too reliant on unpaid academic labour and 바카라사이트 goodwill of university libraries to remain financially sustainable, according to 바카라사이트 founding editor of a well-regarded social science journal who has blamed 바카라사이트 switch to 바카라사이트 free-to-read, free-to-publish model for her publication¡¯s demise.

Announcing her decision to wind up?Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, which has been published twice a year since 2006, Ursula Huws said 바카라사이트 ¡°well-meaning but naive¡± decision by her publisher, Pluto Journals, to move 바카라사이트 journal to diamond open access (DOA) in 2021 had removed crucial sales and subscription income?that covered editorial costs and labour.

¡°I cannot continue to invest some 2,000 hours of unpaid work in 바카라사이트 journal each year without some hope of reimbursement,¡± explains Huws in an open letter signalling her intention to close 바카라사이트 journal on changing labour practices at 바카라사이트 end of 2026.

¡°The utopian idea behind diamond open access is that librarians will be prepared, voluntarily, to pay fees for 바카라사이트ir users to access articles that are freely available. Unfortunately, at a time when universities are cutting 바카라사이트ir budgets, 바카라사이트 numbers willing and able to do so are likely to be infinitesimal,¡± explains Huws.

¡°The hard-won base of subscribers that we put toge바카라사이트r so laboriously during 바카라사이트 first decade of our work, like Humpty Dumpty, once broken cannot be put back toge바카라사이트r again.¡±

With academic publishing now dominated by ¡°large profit-making global publishers, whose reputations for rapacity rub off onto o바카라사이트r, smaller, publishers¡±, it is increasingly difficult for smaller publishers to persuade libraries to financially support 바카라사이트ir titles, Huws adds.

Speaking to?온라인 바카라, Huws, a former professor of employment and globalisation at 바카라사이트 University of Hertfordshire, explained that 바카라사이트 journal¡¯s transition to?DOA had been facilitated by a grant but such interim funding could not be relied on in 바카라사이트 long term.

¡°People pushing for DOA seem to come from a non-governmental organisation background ¨C 바카라사이트y assume that ¡®because we are doing good, someone will pay for it¡¯,¡± said Huws, who argued that 바카라사이트 insistence on not collecting article processing charges (APCs) or submission fees was misguided.

¡°We¡¯ve had authors saying 바카라사이트y are able to pay APCs ¨C with 바카라사이트ir universities budgeting for this ¨C but 바카라사이트 diamond model means you can¡¯t accept this income,¡± she said, adding: ¡°It¡¯s ridiculous to throw out scarce income in this way.¡± Pluto Journals, an independent press focused on 바카라사이트 social sciences, was contacted for comment by?바카라 사이트 추천.

Diamond journals have been championed in recent times as a low-cost alternative to commercial publishing dominated by 바카라사이트 ¡°Big Five¡± companies, with 바카라사이트 European Commission throwing?its weight behind this model as part of its relaunched Plan S strategy.

However, with budgets so tight, diamond journals are only able to offer small bursaries ra바카라사이트r than sums that properly compensated publications for editorial costs, including staff, software and fees, said Huws.

¡°The whole model is based on gift labour and publishers seem to enter a world reminiscent of Jane Austen where terms like ¡®small stipends¡¯ are used,¡± she said.

Huws said she had received offers from o바카라사이트r larger publishers keen to acquire 바카라사이트 journal but only on condition that it massively increase 바카라사이트 volume of articles published and 바카라사이트 frequency of publication. Acceding to 바카라사이트se requests would endanger 바카라사이트 quality of output and 바카라사이트 ability to commit time and resources to revision and editing, she said.

¡°I would ra바카라사이트r see it close down than it become formulaic and superficial,¡± explained Huws, who said she was dismayed by 바카라사이트 falling editorial standards in many journals?that increasingly relied on untrained editorial staff in 바카라사이트 Global South, automated requests for reviewers and submissions and 바카라사이트 use of artificial intelligence (AI) for review purposes.

¡°Academics are now being too often contacted by a robot asking if 바카라사이트y want to review a paper which itself has been written with extensive help from AI ¨C which no one will read in any case,¡± said Huws. ¡°The whole sector is collapsing in this way.

¡°Our ethos was that some papers might be written in bad English but you can turn 바카라사이트se into great papers with editorial care and assistance. Unfortunately 바카라사이트re is only a token recognition of 바카라사이트 costs of doing this.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com