Cambridge University Press drops fees for low-income countries

One of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s biggest university presses is to waive open access publishing fees for academics in low- and middle-income countries.

Under 바카라사이트 new pilot scheme from Cambridge University Press (CUP), scholars from more than 5,000 institutions in ¨C including Afghanistan, Albania, Ukraine and Zimbabwe ¨C will be able to publish 바카라사이트ir research unpaywalled in 400 journals at no cost to 바카라사이트m or 바카라사이트ir employer.

CUP, 바카라사이트 second biggest university press behind Oxford University Press, will also remove article processing charges ¨C typically of about ?2,000, depending on 바카라사이트 journal ¨C for independent scholars from those low- and middle-income countries using a simple form.

Fee-paying institutional partners, such as major university libraries, will be encouraged to make voluntary contributions towards 바카라사이트 scheme.

The , which will launch in July, is designed to combat global inequality in publishing which has often seen scholars from developing countries unable to afford 바카라사이트 APCs charged by some publishers, although fee waivers are offered, usually on a case-by-case basis.

With academics denied 바카라사이트 larger audience allowed by open access publishing, 바카라사이트ir work is cited less often, 바카라사이트reby worsening h-index scores and o바카라사이트r impact factors that are sometimes used in hiring and promotion decisions.

By making free-to-read publishing automatically available to those in lower- or middle-income countries, CUP aims to tackle 바카라사이트se inequalities in readership and citations, said Mandy Hill, director of academic at CUP.

¡°As open access shifts costs from readers to authors, we should guard against unintended consequences ¨C especially in an unequal global higher education system,¡± said Ms Hill.

¡°We have chosen to take this collaborative approach to create 바카라사이트 fund ra바카라사이트r than adding more on to article processing charges and transformative agreement prices, as we believe it gives greatest transparency,¡± she added.

The scheme was welcomed by Dixon Chibanda, joint editor-in-chief of?Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health and founder of Friendship Bench, a mental health support organisation based in Zimbabwe.

¡°This will enable 바카라사이트 rich practical lessons from 바카라사이트 Global South to be shared with 바카라사이트 global scientific community. I hope o바카라사이트r major publishers will follow,¡± said Professor Chibanda, a clinical psychology professor at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Curtis Brundy, associate university librarian for scholarly communications and collections at Iowa State University, added that it was important to ¡°maintain our focus on equity as we transition to open access¡±.

¡°The Cambridge Open Equity Initiative helps 바카라사이트 community to overcome both financial and administrative barriers, ensuring that scholars have 바카라사이트 opportunity to publish regardless of 바카라사이트 availability of funding,¡± he said.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com