Exploring collaborative non-commercial publishing models for Open Access: Apply to perform a study

Important UPDATE 1 August

Please share and contribute to the discussion around the survey commissioned by this study!

This post was made by Jon Tennant @Protohedgehog in response to the call

by cOAlition S consisting of National, Charitable and international, and European funders that have endorsed Plan S and are jointly working on its implementation.

The Plan S initiative by these leading funders has been widely followed by universities and researchers communities worldwide.

This particular call has been seen as unique opportunity for wider communities to get a voice and place on the table along with funders in joint efforts to develop new principles supporting Open Access publishing that is "Diamond", i.e. free for both authors and readers (with costs being carried through sponsorships, donations or membership networks).

Sadly and tragically, Jon died in an accident few days after having started working on this application, which has shaken wider international community and lead to a large scale collaboration effort by many researchers worldwide honoring Jon's memory and caring about the cause.

This massive global collaborative effort resulted in an application submitted for the call, that was unfortunately rejected.

We are currently collecting community feedback on how to proceed next, since this initiative is extremely important to get right with far going consequences.

Jon's original post follows.

I am considering applying to conduct this project, affiliated as a researcher with the Southern Denmark University. Would people here be interested in collaborating in some capacity, for example, as advisors? Or even doing this within the Free Journal Network or something as a group? It seems too good an opportunity to miss.

cOAlition S publishes today, 27 March 2020, a call for an informed study containing an analysis and overview of collaborative non-commercial (aka “Diamond”) publishing journals and platforms. The study is financially supported by Science Europe. The objective is to identify ways to support publishing initiatives wishing to implement Diamond business models.

The study should address the following objectives:

Provide an analysis of the global landscape of collaborative non-commercial journals and platforms, charting their variety, scope, and impact in various disciplines and regions, their scientific and editorial quality assurance practices, and the challenges they face. Identify the extent to which authors and their collaborators do publish in non-APC Open Access journals and platforms, and trends over time Identify the current funding models for collaborative non-commercial journals and platforms. Identify scholarly publishing sectors where efficiency gains, collaboration, and training in terms of shared services or infrastructure are required. Identify the main challenges faced by collaborative non-commercial journals and platforms in meeting the needs of Open Access policies and industry-standard operational and technical requirements and formulate recommendations to overcome these challenges. Provide an action plan and recommendations for principles and funding mechanisms with agreed, equitable, transparent, efficient and effective ways for a range of actors to co-finance relevant collaborative non-commercial non-APC journals and platforms.

Responding to this call

The full description of the rationale and requirements for this call as well as the application form are available within the “Diamond OA study pack”. Providers who wish to apply should complete the template (pages 4-6) and send it to info@coalition-s.org, no later than 24 April 2020.

Edited by Dmitri Zaitsev