petersuber

Two journals from the European Sociological Association (#ESA) are leaving #TayloAndFrancis to become #DiamondOA at #MITPress (@themitpress).
https://mitpress.mit.edu/european-sociological-association-journals-european-societies-and-european-journal-of-cultural-and-political-sociology-move-to-diamond-open-access-at-the-mit-press/

The two journals "are the inaugural beneficiaries of the shift+OPEN program, an initiative by the MIT Press aimed at facilitating the transition of traditional journals to diamond open access."

#OpenAccess #SocietyJournals #SSH

European Sociological Association journals European Societies and European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology move to  diamond open access at the MIT Press

The journals will be the inaugural journals of shift+OPEN, a MIT Press initiative to transition traditional journals to diamond open access. 

MIT Press
Dec 20, 2023 at 7:07pmWeb
Show threadJames GreenDec 20, 2023
@petersuber @themitpress @matherion 👀
Show threadGjalt-Jorn PetersDec 21, 2023
@ajamesgreen @petersuber @themitpress Awesome, thanks! News like this is always hopeful 🙂 And good to know there are more and more options 🙂👍🙏
Show threadVelteropⓐⓊ🪂🇪🇺🇳🇱🇬🇧🇩🇪Dec 21, 2023

@petersuber @themitpress "This program includes three years of funding for the new open access journals."

Peter, do you happen to know what options MIT has in mind for funding/subsidising the journals after the initial three years? That would be most interesting and helpful for other publishers inclined to go that route.

Show threadpetersuberDec 21, 2023

@villavelius @themitpress
Jan: In addition to support during the three-year term, the press also provides "support for developing a sustainable funding model to keep the journal publishing OA beyond the end of the term."
https://mitpress.mit.edu/shiftopen/

But I don't have further details. On the page to which I link above, note this: "If you have any questions please contact our Journals and Open Access Director Nick Lindsay at nlindsay (at) mit.edu."

Shift+OPEN - An MIT Press program to flip journals to open access

MIT Press - Shift+OPEN - An MIT Press program to flip journals to open access

MIT Press
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕Dec 21, 2023
@petersuber @villavelius @themitpress What can "sustainable funding model" mean but APCs, institutional agreements, or subscriptions? The whole point of diamond journals is that they are NOT financially self-sustaining, any more than (say) the police is. They are a public good.
Show threadVelteropⓐⓊ🪂🇪🇺🇳🇱🇬🇧🇩🇪Dec 21, 2023
@petersuber @themitpress Thanks, Peter. "A sustainable funding model" would have to mean some kind of structural subsidy, as costs of publishing (incurring no costs is illusory) need somehow to be paid. I'm sure subsidy is possible on a small scale, but doubt any scalability.
Show threadVelteropⓐⓊ🪂🇪🇺🇳🇱🇬🇧🇩🇪Dec 21, 2023
@petersuber @themitpress By the way, did you know that IDEAL (later derogatorily called Big Deal) was conceived as an infrastructural provision of scientific information, funded by governmental organisations? It worked in the UK for four years after which it was watered down - by publishers as well as librarians, I might add - and we know the result.
Show threadVelteropⓐⓊ🪂🇪🇺🇳🇱🇬🇧🇩🇪Dec 21, 2023
@petersuber @themitpress I'm still sad about the demise of the IDEAL concept: the divide-and-rule that some large publishers applied, and the fact that librarians scuppered the idea because they did not like the top-slicing of budgets. The strange thing was in effect that they wanted to pay more for less, as that, they argued, preserved their power. The publishers applauded them.
Show threadVelteropⓐⓊ🪂🇪🇺🇳🇱🇬🇧🇩🇪Dec 21, 2023
@petersuber @themitpress Of course IDEAL preceded OA and the concept meant that all institutions of higher education had access to electronic versions of the entire journals portfolio of a particular publisher. But in my mind, the concept could easily be extended to true general OA. It would transform a situation of monopolies into one of monopsonies, which commercial outfits don't like, of course.
Show threadVelteropⓐⓊ🪂🇪🇺🇳🇱🇬🇧🇩🇪Dec 21, 2023
@petersuber @themitpress That said, because the published research material is not substitutable, publishers would retain some negotiation power. Now, with preprints and Sci-Hub, they might lose that (there are already institutions that have cancelled subscriptions and BigDeal licences altogether). Anyway, I think Plan U should be given a good chance. https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000273
Plan U: Universal access to scientific and medical research via funder preprint mandates

Preprint servers are a low-cost mechanism for providing free access to research findings, and can also significantly accelerate research itself by making results available immediately. This Perspective article proposes that funding agencies should mandate preprint posting to ensure universal free access to the world’s scientific output, as well as stimulate new peer review and research evaluation initiatives.