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Toward a Sustainable Model of Scientific Publishing

Image by kconcha from Pixabay
Journal of Science Policy & Governance | Volume 18, Issue 01 | March 24, 2021

Op-Ed: Toward a Sustainable Model of Scientific Publishing

Ravindra Palavalli-Nettimi

Florida International University, Department of Biological Sciences, Miami, FL
​
Corresponding author: [email protected]
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https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG180111
Keywords: scientific societies; publishing grants; open-access; impact factor; publication; community

Executive Summary: The current models of commercial publishing of scientific research costs universities, funding organizations, and governments billions of dollars in the form of annual subscriptions and publishing charges. Yet, many research papers are behind a paywall for the public and those unaffiliated to universities. Much of the research that is freely accessible to everyone requires authors to pay an unreasonable fee leading to inequalities in knowledge dissemination based on affordability. So, we need a sustainable model of scientific publishing that is beneficial to scientists, universities, and the public, especially in light of Covid-19 pandemic related budget cuts. Similar to commercial publishers, many scientific societies publish their own journals. Funding sources and universities should offer publishing grants or annual contributions to fund such societies’ open-access journals and thus support a sustainable publishing model wherein profits generated from academic publishing are invested back into the scientific community. Funding sources should also mandate publishing papers in society journals. To encourage that, hiring committees should place more importance on the article-level metrics than journal quality metrics such as the impact factor. The societies can use the publishing grants to cover journal publication costs and pay commercial publishers only for their value-added services such as manuscript handling and hosting the content online. The proposed publishing model will be sustainable and can strengthen scientific communities by supporting scientific society journals and making science more accessible.

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References

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Ravindra Palavalli-Nettimi is a post-doctoral research associate at Florida International University. Ravindra received his Ph.D. from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. He studies insect vision, flight, and navigation.
 
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to all the instructors and organizers of the Science Policy and Advocacy Certificate Program for STEM Scientists (UC-Irvine/JSPG). Thanks to Max Schneider and Ankita Arora for their feedback on earlier drafts of the article.

DISCLAIMER: The findings and conclusions published herein are solely attributed to the author and not necessarily endorsed or adopted by the Journal of Science Policy and Governance. Articles are distributed in compliance with copyright and trademark agreements.

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© 2022 Journal of Science Policy & Governance, Inc. All rights reserved. The opinions, findings and conclusions from JSPG publications, additional article commentaries and related events do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal.
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    • APS Policy and Governance on Science, Technology and Global Security
    • IAI Development Policy and Global Change Science to Achieve the Vision of Sustainable Americas
    • Volume 22 Issue 01
    • GHFUTURES2030 Strengthening Youth-centered Policy and Governance of Digital Transformations in Health.
    • UNESCO AND MGCY OPEN SCIENCE POLICIES AS AN ACCELERATOR FOR ACHIEVING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
    • Volume 21 Issue 01 >
      • Cover Memo: Volume 21, Issue 1, Summer Standard Issue
    • JSPG and UCL STEAPP Special Topics: Innovations in Science Diplomacy >
      • Cover Memo: Volume 20, Issue 3, Special Issue on Innovations in Science Diplomacy
    • Sigma XI-JSPG Special Issue: Re-envisioning STEM Education and Workforce Development for the 21st Century
    • Volume 20 Issue 01
    • JSPG Volume 19 Issue 01 (10 Years of Publishing)
    • Special Issue: 2021 NSPN-JSPG Policy Memo Competition
    • Special Issue: Shaping the Future of Science Policy
    • JSPG-UK SIN Special Issue: Climate Change Solutions
    • Volume 18 Issue 01
    • Special Issue: 2020 NSPN-JSPG Policy Memo Competition
    • Volume 17 Issue 01 (Supported by AAAS STPF)
    • JSPG-UN MGCY Special Issue: Impacts of Emerging Technologies
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    • Special Issue: 2019 NSPN-JSPG Policy Memo Competition
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