News
Springer Nature warns cOAlition S over Transformative Journals
Springer Nature has issued an appeal to cOAlition S not to ‘lose the opportunity’ it says its Transformative Journals offer to accelerate the move to open access (OA). The publisher says the journals
offer the chance of a ‘seismic shift’ to OA – and, unless changes are made to the conditions being proposed, it may be unable to commit to its journals participating in the movement. Steven Inchcoombe, chief publishing
officer at Springer Nature, said: ‘Springer Nature remains committed to moving more quickly towards OA and is proud to be the publisher of almost a quarter of all fully OA articles ever published. We first floated the idea of Transformative Journals in May as we believed that, by harnessing the investment, track record, editorial expertise, and the trust research communities have in these long-standing journals, the transition to OA could be significantly accelerated and enable many of these journals, including selective ones such as Nature, to get on the path to OA. ‘We are concerned, however, that the
thresholds proposed by cOAlition S could have unintended consequences. Authors of research funded by cOAlition S members are likely to see their journal choice severely restricted; organisations committed to OA could see a doubling of the content they need to fund and, ultimately, many journals may have to rule themselves out, resulting in a slowdown of the very transition we both want to see.’ Springer Nature says it is supportive of
the majority of the criteria proposed in the consultation, but has concerns regarding the proposed timelines and metrics that would place conditions on publishers to grow OA content at a faster rate than that of funders willing to fund it, and to do so at a time when the global share of cOAlition S funded research is effectively declining. The company also stated its concerns
regarding requirements for waivers that would see more research published
“We are concerned, that the thresholds proposed could have unintended consequences”
for free, undermining those journals’ sustainability. It believes this could lead to those organisations committed to Gold OA having to support twice the content they were funding at the point of the flip – ‘which is not fair, reasonable or sustainable’.
Springer Nature proposes an alternative
timeframe and set of metrics: • Year-on-year growth of OA content at the same rate as the increase in global research supported by funders and institutions committed to funding Gold OA;
• Journals to be flipped when OA content reaches 90 per cent; and
• Progress to be reviewed in 2024, as per cOAlition S’ decision to review more widely, and commitments adapted accordingly in light of progress to date.
To achieve this, the company says it is also committing to: • Actively promoting to authors, funders and institutions the many benefits of publishing OA;
• Expanding transformative deals as rapidly as institutions/consortia/funders allow;
• Increasing levels of transparency of pricing and associated publishing services; and
• Working with Plan S to get more funders, institutions and consortia to support Gold OA. Inchcoombe added: ‘We remain
firmly committed to the concept of Transformative Journals, but are urging cOAlition S to think again as they could, if implemented in a realistic and sustainable way, generate a seismic shift in the transition to OA. We care deeply about ensuring the research system works for the benefit of all, so we have to find a solution to overcome these issues. ‘Should cOAlition S adopt an alternative
framework which could achieve large scale adoption, Springer Nature would commit to putting all its owned journals publishing primary research – hybrid journals (a portfolio of 1,900 titles including some society-owned ones), Nature, and all 31 Nature Research Journals – on the path to full OA.’
RI reader scoops free conference ticket
Kate O’Neill, a scholarly communications librarian at the University of Sheffield Library, has won a free ticket to next month’s Researcher to Reader conference in London, thanks to a collaboration between the organisers of the event and Research Information. O’Neill’s name was drawn
from a metaphorical hat and will attend the two-day event at BMA House in central London on 24 and 25 February. The Researcher to
Reader Conference is the successor event to the
annual conferences formerly hosted by the Association of Subscription Agents & Intermediaries (ASA). The conference aims to
continue to be the premier forum for discussion of the international scholarly content supply chain – bringing knowledge from the Researcher to the Reader. The conference programme
The Researcher to Reader conference takes place at BMA House in central London
covers key topics in the area of scholarly content supply, with a scope that ranges from the creation of content by researchers to the point when
22 Research Information February/March 2020
the readers access the content, and beyond into archiving and preservation. This supply chain involves many ‘intermediaries’ including not just subscription agents and distributors, but also publishers, librarians and technology providers. Sponsors who are already
supporting the 2020 Conference include HighWire, Atypon, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Research Information, Mosaic, Ringgold
and Aries. l For the latest programme news, visit:
www.r2rconf.com
@researchinfo |
www.researchinformation.info
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