The public perception of science is of altruistic nerds methodically working towards solutions that benefit humanity: vaccines, renewable energy, self-driving cars. In reality, science is a business. And some of the major players are the global publishing houses that print details of experiments and their findings in scholarly journals. The future of these journals, as director of Open Access Australasia Virginia Barbour writes, is a “hot topic in science”, and one that begins a new chapter next month.
Scientists or their institutions must often pay high subscription fees to multiple journals to keep up with what’s happening in their field. In response to complaints about high and rising subscription fees, the publishing houses have brought in different forms of ‘open access’, or free-to-read journals. In order to pay for the cost of curating the journals, and vetting and editing the papers, the journals may charge an up-front fee to publish.
Prestigious journal Science explains that this “allow[s] their rigorous peer review shepherded by professional editors, careful editing, access to all relevant data, striking and informative visuals, and an engaging website. Importantly, we put substantial post-publication resources into preventing misinformation by informing accurate coverage of research through mainstream and social media.”
