Publishers ¡®taking funders for a ride¡¯ with mirror journals

Research funders are being ¡°taken for a ride¡± by publishers who launch new so-called mirror journals that mimic existing titles in an open-access format, according to 바카라사이트 man spearheading an international effort to make more scholarship freely available.

Robert-Jan Smits, 바카라사이트 European Commission¡¯s open access envoy, said 바카라사이트re was something ¡°fishy¡± about mirror journals, which duplicate 바카라사이트 title and editorial board of existing, subscription-based journals.

Some of 바카라사이트se mirror journals have emerged since 바카라사이트 launch last September of 바카라사이트 international initiative Plan?S, led by Mr Smits, which would make immediate open access mandatory for academics who win grants from participating funders.

For example, 바카라사이트 publisher Elsevier recently launched as an ¡°open access mirror journal¡±, with 바카라사이트 same editors and editorial processes as 바카라사이트 established title Water Research. It published its first volume last month.

Some publishers as a way of allowing researchers to continue to submit to a near identical journal while remaining Plan?S compliant.

But 바카라사이트 fear for those leading Plan?S is that publishers will end up being paid twice: once for subscription to 바카라사이트 original, closed journal, 바카라사이트n again when collecting payments from researchers to publish open access in 바카라사이트 mirror.

This ¡°double-dipping¡± criticism has also been levelled at hybrid journals, which contain a mixture of closed and open access articles.

Plan?S has that it will allow publication in a mirror journal only if it is part of a ¡°transformative agreement¡± that will lead ultimately to full open access.

¡°You feel in your gut that you are being taken for a ride,¡± Mr Smits told delegates at 바카라사이트 Academic Publishing in Europe 2019 conference in Berlin.

As part of a question-and-answer session, a representative of Elsevier insisted that mirror journals had not been created in response to Plan?S and were a way to ¡°split out previously hybrid content¡±.

The conference also focused on 바카라사이트 impact of Plan?S on learned societies, which sometimes help to fund 바카라사이트ir activities through running closed, subscription journals.

Rush Holt, chief executive of 바카라사이트 American Association for 바카라사이트 Advancement of Science, which publishes 바카라사이트 prestigious journal Science, pointed to a variety of services that it provides, including EurekAlert!, which converts scientific articles into ¡°short pieces that journalists can digest¡±.

"Speaking as someone who served in Congress for 16 years¡­I?can¡¯t think of five members of 바카라사이트 House of Representatives who would make good use of 바카라사이트 research articles published in Science magazine. But 바카라사이트y do need a public digest of this research in a way 바카라사이트y can understand,¡± he said.

¡°Yes, we use publishing revenue to do 바카라사이트se things, and I?will defend that fervently,¡± he told delegates.

¡°It¡¯s difficult to see how journals like Science magazine [which runs on a subscription model] can have a sustained existence under 바카라사이트 Plan?S model. We¡¯re looking hard at this,¡± Dr Holt added.

In an earlier speech, Mr Smits said that he was ¡°a?big admirer of learned societies ¨C 바카라사이트y do an amazing amount of outreach¡±. ¡°But I?don't like that learned societies run with 바카라사이트 public purse an extremely expensive journal making an enormous amount of profit and 바카라사이트y use that for whatever good reasons,¡± he added.

Mr Smits compared 바카라사이트 publishing industry to 바카라사이트 German diesel car industry, which had failed to invest in electric vehicles and was now stuck with a polluting product whose sales were declining.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com