PeerJ Publishes first batch of articles

This past May, we learned of the impending launch of PeerJ—a new type of OA journal, with a rather unique pricing structure.  Seeking to radically decrease author processing charges, PeerJ asked the question “if we can set a goal to sequence the Human Genome for $99, then why shouldn’t we demand the same goal for the publication of research?” This radical pricing policy was met with skepticism by some, excitement by others, but certainly great interest from most who follow the rapidly changing scholarly communication environment.

On February 12^th, PeerJ announced the publication of its first 30 articles, thus beginning the innovative pricing model experiment. Authors of works accepted in the initial batch laud PeerJ’s turnaround time and intuitive interface:

The submission process is a joy in comparison to hacking through the late-1990s-themed submission systems of most journals. Our paper was handled by an academic editor of the highest reputation, efficiently and fairly. It was reviewed swiftly by two referees, one of whom gave particularly detailed and helpful feedback. When we got the proof PDF we were taken aback by how good it looks compared with the printed-page facsimiles most journals produce. And when we sent the proof back with numerous changes, they got a second proof out to us within days. In fact, the whole process from submission through to publication has taken only ten weeks — unheard of in academic publishing.

 

The system is simple and intuitive which makes my job easier.

 

Of course, innovative pricing models and interfaces also entail risk. Shortly after the initial launch of PeerJ, Phil Davis pointed out some challenges to sustainability that it may face. Describing the potentially problematic “lifetime membership model” of PeerJ, Davis states:

The company will look good in their early stages of growth, and this is when most startups do one of two things — sell big and move on, or cash out and leave a decaying company to a bunch of stock holders who mistakenly overvalued its worth.

Whether PeerJ meets one of these ends, or  ultimately does prove that scholarly research can be published and disseminated openly for incredibly low prices remains to be seen. It seems certain though, that it will prove to be a very interesting experiment.

Learn more about the launch here.