Today, HHMI is announcing a new open access publishing policy:bit.ly/3iiC3jF
We’ve invited Bodo Stern, HHMI’s Chief of Strategic Initiatives, to explain the key points and offer perspective.
HHMI’s new open access publishing policy will go into effect on January 1, 2022. Articles with major contributions from HHMI labs will be freely available immediately upon publication. You can read the policy here: bit.ly/3jjGI6g
The policy includes options for all types of journals: open access journals and transformative journals can publish HHMI articles under @CreativeCommons CC BY in exchange for open access fees...
...for all other journals, the author-accepted manuscript must be posted under CC BY on PubMedCentral.
The second option is a compromise for HHMI because the final journal version is still behind a paywall. It’s also a compromise for publishers since their subscription income will not be supplemented by open access fees from HHMI.
Some might ask: Why compromise? HHMI wants to retain maximal flexibility of publishing choices for our scientists while still achieving immediate open access.
Non-profit / society journals that are not fully open access will have a grace period. Until Jan 1, 2023, they can receive HHMI funds, just like open access journals, for publishing HHMI articles under CC BY.
Why offer a carve-out for society publishers? Societies reinvest their publishing profits to support their communities. We want to give them more time to transition to a sustainable open access business model.
The new HHMI policy aligns with the principles of Plan S, which was developed by @cOAlitionS_OA.
HHMI is joining cOAlition S, which includes @GatesFoundation and @WellcomeTrust, in the drive toward open access publishing. We will learn from the rollout of Plan S which takes effect one year earlier, in January 2021.
Why now? The #COVID19 pandemic illustrates the power of #openscience. Science moves at a faster pace when research is immediately available through preprints and open access articles...
...There is no reason to withhold these benefits from other research fields when this crisis is behind us.
The goal for more openness in publishing isn’t limited to access to articles. It includes greater transparency in peer review, author-driven publishing through repositories like #bioRxiv, and #FAIR data and software sharing.
Stay tuned for how HHMI will promote these publishing practices in partnership with others.
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