This document outlines steps journals can take to become more open and responsible. It discusses: 1) Flipping journals to open access by adopting fair open access principles and transparent article processing charges. 2) Making peer review more open through pilots of open peer review at various journals. 3) Potential future directions including decoupling publishing services, increasing use of preprint repositories, and considering if journals themselves will continue to exist or publishing will be handled through separate services and platforms.

1. Responsible journals: Making reading, evaluation
and publishing open
Ludo Waltman
Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS), Leiden University
Editor-in-Chief of Quantitative Science Studies
Symposium ‘Responsible Journal’
Radboud University
February 13, 2020

2. Outline
• Flipping a journal: Making reading open
• Next steps: Making evaluation open
• Future directions: Making publishing open
1

3. Flipping a journal:
Making reading open
2

4. Flipping a journal: Why?
• Open access
• Open metadata
• Ownership
3

5. Fair Open Access Principles
4

6. Open access: Low APC
5
Frontiers RMA Frontiers USD 950
JASIST Wiley EUR 2500
JDIS De Gruyter free
Journal of Informetrics Elsevier USD 2000
PLOS ONE PLOS USD 1595
Quantitative Science Studies MIT Press USD 600/800
Research Evaluation Oxford University Press EUR 2430
Research Policy Elsevier USD 2880
Scientometrics Springer Nature EUR 2040

7. Open access: Transparent APC
6

8. Open metadata: Initiative for Open Citations
7

9. Ownership: Publisher-owned journal
8
Scholarly
community
Publisher Editor

10. Ownership: Community-owned journal
9
Scholarly
community
Publisher Editor

11. Ownership: Another journal flip
10

12. Next steps:
Making evaluation
open
11

13. Open peer review: Why?
Quantitative Science Studies aims to start a pilot with open peer review (open
reports, but closed identities)
Open peer review shows:
• The quality control performed for an article
• The quality of an article as perceived by reviewers
• The extent to which an article has benefited from the comments of reviewers
• The remaining concerns reviewers have about an article
12

14. Open peer review pilot at Wiley
13

15. Open peer review pilot at Nature
14

16. Future directions:
Making publishing
open
15

17. Reading is open to everyone; how to make sure
publishing remains open to everyone as well?
16

18. Bundled publishing services
17
Scholarly
community
Publisher Editor
USD 600 Funded by
research
institution
• Copyediting, proofreading
• Publishing platform
• Peer review platform
• …

19. Increasing popularity of preprint repositories
18

20. Increasing popularity of preprint repositories
19
Scholarly
community
Publisher Editor
Preprint
repositories
USD 600
Centrally
funded
Funded by
editor’s research
institution
• Copyediting, proofreading
• Publishing platform
• Peer review platform
• …

21. Unbundling publishing services
20
Scholarly
community
Publishing
platform
Editor
Peer review
platform
Copyediting,
proofreading
Funded by
authors?
(USD 300-400)
Centrally
funded?
Centrally
funded?
Funded by
editor’s research
institution?
Centrally funded?

22. Responsible journals? Or no journals at all?
21
Journals as a bundle of services for publishing
and evaluation
Journals as a community-centered approach to
publishing and evaluation

23. Thank you for your attention!
22