A New Age of Open Access for the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery

"As noted earlier, we do have some exciting news to share about how your editorial board and executive committee hope to extend our reach for both acquiring new authors for JAMS and new members for the AAV too. The AAV was approached by BioOne, the global nonprofit organization that provides a digital library for nearly 219 journals, to participate in a pilot study called “Subscribe to Open” (S20). This offer was limited to 71 journal titles from 54 members of its publishing community. The goal of this program is to offer open access for these titles during the calendar year so that this material is made available to all for up to 3 calendar years. Your editorial board and executive committee believe this will serve as a great way to reach out to colleagues working with birds who are looking to publish in open access journals, increasing our submissions, and for those who may not have the resources to access this material, including students. As a nonprofit, this is in line with our stated mission: “The Association of Avian Veterinarians is a diverse global professional organization dedicated to advancing and promoting avian health, welfare, and conservation through education, advocacy, and science.” We believe that this opportunity will provide students and colleagues with limited resources an opportunity to gain access to the amazing evidence-based material our journal provides and ultimately serve as a recruiting tool when their resources allow them to join.

A growing challenge with publishing is that academic institutions are directing their faculty toward open access titles; however, cost is a real concern with this movement. Article processing fees in not-for-profit and for-profit journals can range from more than $1000 to $12 690 for a single article.2,3 Historically, these types of fees might be paid through grants, but the monies available in grants have not kept up with these rising fees, and some grants do not provide funds for publishing fees. In the field of avian medicine and surgery, publishing fees of this magnitude are cost-prohibitive. BioOne, as a nonprofit, recognized this challenge and looked to partnerships with organizations such as the AAV to make a real difference. As a result, the open access articles published in JAMS will continue to be at no cost to the authors. We believe that this model will expand our reach in the field of avian medicine and conservation, opening new doors that might not have otherwise been identified. Moreover, if you want to make a difference in this world and pay it forward, this represents a great opportunity for us as an organization."