Time to move to open access | European Journal of Public Health | Oxford Academic

"EUPHA has also advocated for maintaining the learned societies’ role in the running of scientific journals. Many ‘pure’ open access journals are just catalogues of scientific manuscripts, whereas societies want to include editorials, viewpoint papers, commentaries, society news etc., in their journals. EUPHA is determined to keep the European Journal of Public Health (EJPH) as a society journal, combining high level scientific publication with policy papers, debates, and public health news. This is an important part of EUPHA’s knowledge translation policy, implying a priority for the association to strengthen public health science, policy and practice in Europe.

During the past year, EUPHA and its members have discussed a possible shift for the EJPH to a complete open access journal. Overall, reactions have been positive, although there remains concern regarding weaker institutions and authors without funding to pay for open access.

Understandably, the cost for publishing, APC (Article Processing Charge) is a point of concern, It should be pointed out that the overall goal with plan S and shift of payment streams is that publishing costs should not be covered by individual authors, but by public bodies such as research funders, universities or libraries, by funding mechanisms that already are in place in many countries. The analyses performed on national as well as global level all point to the fact that ‘there is money in the system’, i.e. costs paid today by libraries and universities to publishers for subscriptions, are higher than what all APCs would amount to.3 In the move to open access, EUPHA will find a mechanism to allow possibility to publish in this journal also for those who are not covered by some type of funding for publication or who are not part of read-and-publish agreements.

Beginning in January 2022, this journal will be published fully open access. The current structure with six issues per year, and with editorials, viewpoints and European public health news, will remain. Paper copies that are currently being distributed in big packs all over Europe, will no longer exist, to the benefit of the environment. Certain supplements, for which paper copies are important for targeted dissemination, can still opt for paper copies. Thus 2021 will be a transition year, when we publish all papers accepted on the current agreement, whereas papers submitted from May 2021 will be published under the new agreement...."