Where have we come since the birth of preprint servers, and where are we going? How can more scholars and journals embrace preprints to make research freely accessible? How are new uses of preprint servers changing the academic publishing landscape? This Open Access Week, Scholastica and Authorea are exploring these questions and more.
The Scholastica Team is excited to have partnered with Authorea on our recent eBook, Open Access + Preprints: Journals and scholars take action. To make the contents of the eBook even more accessible we’ve also converted portions of it into the below slideshow, which is also available via SlideShare.
The slideshow overviews:
- The history and benefits of preprints
- Recent OA mandates by governments and funding bodies
- Steps scholars and journals can take to support Green OA via preprints
- New OA publishing models journals are pioneering using preprints
Among journals embracing new preprint publishing models is Discrete Analysis, an arXiv overlay journal launched by Fields Medalist Timothy Gowers. Like other arXiv overlay journals, Discrete Analysis accepts submissions of manuscript already published to the arXiv, vets submissions through formal peer review, and then, rather than compiling accepted articles into journal issues, re-uploads final versions to the arXiv with Digital Object Identifiers. The overlay model is unique in that it helps journals eliminate virtually all publishing costs, such as typesetting and layout, making it an agile and affordable publishing option. Discrete Analysis stands out from other arXiv journals because while following the overlay model it has a professional publication website hosted on Scholastica, with individual pages for each article including brief descriptions that link out to the arXiv version.
The Discrete Analysis team is able to affordably manage peer review and publishing using Scholastica, and is able to give authors the ability to import manuscript submissions straight from arXiv via Scholastica’s arXiv integration.
For Gowers and other overlay journal founders, a primary aim of the overlay publishing model is to show academics that it is possible to produce quality scholarship without expensive publishing costs.
“We feel what we’re doing is critical, because it’s setting an example that academics can publish journals of the highest quality without a commercial entity,” said Gowers.
We are proud to support Discrete Analysis and the overlay journal model. Scholastica is committed to helping the academic community put open access into action. Among our key aims is to lower the barrier to entry for scholars looking to launch open access journals by offering academics the tools they need to peer review and publish research at an affordable price. Supporting the arXiv overlay journal model is one way we’re able to do this, which we’re excited about.
We hope this slideshow and eBook will help you navigate the ins and outs of preprints and determine the best ways to use preprints to make research more open access, whether you’re a researcher, journal editor, or both. To get more detailed information on the topics covered in this slideshow, be sure to also check out our free eBook Open Access + Preprints: Journals and scholars take action. And if you’re interested in launching an overlay journal, let us know! We’d be happy to offer guidance and see how Scholastica can help.
Happy OA Week!
