EPFL startup explores new directions in open access

abernard102@gmail.com 2012-11-09

Summary:

"The EPFL startup Frontiers announced today that it is launching 13 new open-access journals in fields including Physics, Bioengineering, and Public Health. These new titles will more than double Frontiers' current repertoire of twelve online journals whose peer-reviewed, scientific articles are immediately accessible, free of charge, to anyone. EPFL researcher Kamila Markram launched the company in 2007 with the support of a small group of scientists. Markram will be giving a keynote speech this Sunday, the 11th of November, at London's SpotOn conference (formally Science Online London) about open science and scientific publication in the digital age.  'Since working scientists run all of Frontiers journals, the launch is also a call for researchers to take the lead in defining the direction of research in their fields by joining one of the new editorial boards,' explains Markram. In 2008, a small group of leading neuroscientists from around the world launched Frontiers in Neuroscience. Since then, key members of the active scientific community have continued to manage editorial content for all of its twelve current journals, which include Frontiers in Genetics, Frontiers in Psychology and Frontiers in Microbiology. In January of 2012, Frontiers launched Frontiers Network—a web-based platform for scientists to create profiles, network and disseminate their publications. 'With over 25,000 scientists currently on its editorial boards, Frontiers has built a strong network of working scientists who believe in putting scientific publishing back into the hands of researchers,' says Kamila Markram. Frontiers can expand the 'Frontiers in' series, in part, because its technology-driven publishing model makes it possible treat a high quantity of manuscripts. By taking advantage of the possibilities of the Internet for scientific communication and publication, their platform allows for publishing and sharing open-access content online, participating in real-time peer-review of manuscripts and tracking publication impact using detailed web analytic tools. Most importantly, the platform automates much of the distribution of editorial tasks, allowing Frontiers to easily scale up production without raising prices... At Frontiers, peer-reviewed articles appear online, free for all to access under a Creative Commons CC-BY license, with authors retaining copyright. And the authors of articles that receive a lot of attention, i.e. are heavily downloaded and cited, are invited back to write another paper that contextualizes their work—what Frontiers calls 'climbing up the tier system' ... 'To solve another fundamental problem in the publishing industry above and beyond the open access question, Frontiers has developed a transparent peer review process,' says Markram.  Once a manuscript enters the review process at Frontiers, a private forum is opened where the author and reviewers can exchange messages in real-time—encouraging an efficient and constructive critique of the paper. And if the manuscript is accepted, Frontiers publishes the reviewers' identities to acknowledge the reviewers' contribution and to increase the accountability and transparency of the review process...'"

Link:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/epfd-ese110612.php

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.new oa.gold oa.business_models oa.publishers oa.licensing oa.cc oa.peer_review oa.quality oa.frontiers oa.epfl oa.copyright oa.libre oa.journals oa.announcements

Date tagged:

11/09/2012, 10:46

Date published:

11/09/2012, 05:46