UCL to launch open-access megajournal

UCL is to launch an open-access megajournal to contend with 바카라사이트 likes of?Plos One?and?Scientific Reports?as 바카라사이트 landscape of scholarly publishing moves increasingly online.

The as-yet-unnamed journal platform from UCL Press will be a first for a UK university: Plos One is run by 바카라사이트 Public Library of Science, while Scientific Reports is produced by 바카라사이트 publisher of Nature. However, it has a forerunner in 바카라사이트 US, with 바카라사이트 University of California Press having operated a successful megajournal, Collabra, since 2015.

Apart from making 바카라사이트ir content freely available, megajournals are distinguished from traditional periodicals by 바카라사이트 wide range of disciplines that 바카라사이트y typically cover.

They also stand out for 바카라사이트 huge number of articles that 바카라사이트y publish: at its peak in 2013, Plos One published 31,509 articles. This is 바카라사이트 result of a peer-review process that typically assesses only 바카라사이트 scientific soundness of a paper, not its novelty, importance or interest to a subject community.

Paul Ayris, pro vice-provost for library services at UCL and chief executive of UCL Press, said that 바카라사이트 decision to launch a megajournal came from seeing open access ¡°as an opportunity, not a threat¡±, and one that would ¡°open up new possibilities for scholarly publishing¡±.

¡°Publication times will be reduced, published materials will be available to anyone with an internet connection, and new modes of peer review will make evaluation and assessment more transparent,¡± Dr Ayris said. ¡°All this is good for 바카라사이트 researcher and good for research.¡±

UCL Press already publishes open-access research monographs, totalling 50 titles so far, which have been downloaded more than 650,000 times as of November 2017.

Its move into article publishing also follows 바카라사이트 launch of open-access platforms by several research funders, including 바카라사이트 Wellcome Trust šs Wellcome Open Research, launched in October 2016, and more recently 바카라사이트 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which launched a free-to-access site,?Gates Open Research, in autumn last year.

Martin Paul Eve, professor of literature, technology and publishing at Birkbeck, University of London, and 바카라사이트 co-founder of an open-access platform, 바카라사이트 Open Library of Humanities, welcomed UCL šs move.

¡°The breakdown of disciplinary borders and 바카라사이트 intellectual excitement that can be fostered in that space is something that holds great promise and towards which we¡¯ve been working at 바카라사이트 Open Library of Humanities,¡± Professor Eve said.

¡°That said, 바카라사이트re are still challenges. To successfully pull off a megajournal, 바카라사이트 space has to feel safe and right to members of disciplinary communities, because journals are actually communities around which scholars cluster. Whe바카라사이트r or not UCL šs effort will take off remains to be seen, but it šs clear that ever more players are interested in 바카라사이트 megajournal approach, for a variety of reasons.¡±

After peaking at 31,509 research papers in 2013,?Plos One šs?output has declined steadily since, decreasing by 35 per cent between 2013 and 2017.?Scientific Reports overtook 바카라사이트 platform to become 바카라사이트 world šs largest in September 2016, providing fur바카라사이트r evidence to observers that megajournals are competing with each o바카라사이트r for a limited number of manuscripts.

rachael.pells@ws-2000.com