OUP takes a bold step following its Open Access experiment

Oxford University Press (OUP) is to move to a full Open Access publishing model for Nucleic Acids Research.

Richard Roberts

Following the success of an exploratory Open Access 'experiment' with the Database issue of Nucleic Acids Research (NAR), the world's largest university press announced in June that the entire journal will adopt a mandatory Open Access policy starting in January 2005.

"To fulfill our role as a University Press we felt a responsibility to the scholarly communities we represent to explore it as a viable publishing model," commented Martin Richardson, Managing Director of Oxford Journals. "Our year-long experiments with a small part of NAR have allowed us to consult authors, readers, and librarians on their views and also to monitor results. So our decision to take NAR to a full Open Access model is based on solid research and a clear desire for such a move by this part of the academic community."

This is the first time that a traditional journal as prestigious as NAR has switched to an Open Access model. The highly respected journal has been publishing quality research articles for over three decades and was listed by ISI as one of the top ten 'hottest' journals in biology and biochemistry. OUP's decision was clearly influenced by strong opinions from the NAR editorial board and positive response from contributing authors. "We felt it was very important that we listened to our institutional customers as well as the NAR author base in order to get this initiative right," said Richard Gedye, Sales Director at Oxford Journals. "We instigated talks with a wide-ranging and international group of senior academic librarians, and talked through several potential models which we were considering for NAR." This feedback was critical in encouraging the publisher to initiate a transition.

From next January all articles in NAR will be freely available online immediately upon publication. The journal plans to adopt a model for the transition period that combines author charges, institutional membership and print subscriptions. Author charges will be £300/US$500 for researchers whose institution has chosen to pay for NAR membership or £900/US$1500 for authors from non-member institutions. The publisher has pledged to continue consulting authors and institutions about their preferred funding options and to make changes according to the response from the research community. Authors from developing countries will be able to publish free of charge or at a significantly discounted rate. Any contributing author may also apply for a 'financial hardship' waiver of the fee.

OUP's decision has been widely praised by the research and librarian communities alike. "I both support and endorse this move," said Nobel laureate Richard Roberts, a Senior Editor for NAR and a driving force behind OUP's decision to experiment with Open Access. "Open Access is the future of scientific publication and one that we should all work hard to make successful. Every scientist can help by embracing the concept of Open Access and supporting journals as they attempt to make it the norm," said Roberts. "I'm delighted to see this latest development," commented Clare Jenkins, Director of Library Services at Imperial College London. "I really hope this goes well for OUP, and that its success will encourage others to follow where [OUP] have led."

http://nar.oupjournals.org/

Publishing giant springs towards Open Access

Springer, the world's second-largest scientific, medical and technical publisher, offers authors a choice to make their articles freely available online.

Under the name "Springer Open Choice" the venerable publishing house is now offering a more open publication alternative for authors. As of July, authors who publish articles in Springer's scientific journals can now pay a fee to ensure that their article can be freely accessed online; the full-text version can be read and downloaded free of charge via the online SpringerLink service without any access restrictions.

"We want to respond to the demands of the small group of researchers and certain publicly funded research communities who are advocating even wider unlimited access to scientific content and who are in a position to pay for that service," explained Derk Haank, CEO of the Springer specialist publishing group. "Springer Open Choice is therefore not a matter of either/or. We want to offer our authors both options and let them choose. Ultimately, the customers will decide what they want."

Authors who choose the Open Choice model will pay a fee of US$ 3,000 to ensure online access to their article once it has been accepted via the normal peer-review process. Springer will ensure that the articles are linked to all the usual international reference systems in electronic publishing, and will also provide the standard indexing and abstract service. Unlike full Open Access however, Springer will continue to require consent-to-publish and transfer-of-copyright agreements. Copying, reproducing, distributing, or posting of the publisher's version of the article on a third party server is not permitted. Authors will only be allowed to put their own versions of a 'postprint' in institutional repositories.

The move comes as part of a review of business policies following the merger of the German publisher Springer-Verlag and Dutch scientific publishing house Kluwer Academic Publishers that began earlier this year. The merger created the world's second largest scientific publishing giant, after Reed Elsevier. Springer publishes 1,250 journals and around 3,500 new book titles a year.

Springer is apparently offering the Open Choice option in response to author pressure. As the company website clearly states "Springer believes in the value and longevity of the subscription publishing model, and is not changing its business model." Nevertheless, the publisher has indicated that annual subscription prices will reflect the amount of non-open content published in the previous year. The implication is that the more authors that take advantage of Open Choice, the lower the subscription costs will be.

www.springeronline.com