In recent years several journals have seen editors walking out due to disagreements with their host publishers. This has often led to the editors beginning new journals where they can have more autonomy. In 2023, editors of eight journals all left due to disputes with their publishing companies. Mass Resignations Watch List.
But what sort of things are they looking for when they seek a new publishing platform?
Here we look at a few of the pertinent issues and try to glance behind the scenes at what challenges face journal editors who feel compelled to move.
Warning: Open Research contains lots of acronyms. Here’s a link to our glossary
Ethics:
Does the new publisher support the journal’s audience and mission?
Does it have a good reputation? (member of COPE?)
Will the editors be able to retain control over decision-making? Bearing in mind that this might have been a primary reason for leaving an existing platform.
Financial models:
There are many different financial models, with many University Presses (including Aberdeen University Press) now offering not for profit models.
Some might charge authors APC’s to publish
Diamond OA means no cost to authors or readers
Hybrid OA journals allow open access but require payment to make this happen
Legal:
Who owns the journal or brand? Is it owned by the editorial board or by the publisher? For example, when the editorial board left Lingua they had to start a new journal with a new name. They started Glossa, ‘a fair, open access journal’. But the new title had to begin without the previous reputation built up by Lingua. Lingua is Dead, Long Live Lingua.
How easy is it to leave your current host? How easy will the transfer of existing publications, DOIs and metadata be?
Workflows (practical things):
What are the submission methods? Peer review processes? Are there dashboards?
Does it support Scopus, WoS, DOAJ, PubMed indexing?
What about long-term preservation of content?
And ultimately, does the publisher fit with their society’s ethos? Does it tick all the necessary boxes in terms of practical workflow, ethics, economic models and allow the editors the autonomy they need to run the journal service that they want to provide. These are challenges that journal editors are increasingly willing to take on in order to put principles before profit!
