The Bioinformatics Open Access option
Biosciences Editor, Oxford Journals
We are pleased to report that July 2005 saw the launch of our new Open Access option, part of the Oxford Open initiative (http://www.oxfordjournals.org/oxfordopen/). Bioinformatics authors can now choose to publish their work ‘open access’ in an established, high-impact journal, under what we believe is a sustainable publication model.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR AUTHORS SUBMITTING TO BIOINFORMATICS
The decision of whether to pay for open access is made by the corresponding author upon acceptance (importantly this decision is kept completely separate from the editorial review process). If a Bioinformatics author chooses to pay for the Open Access option, his or her paper will be made freely available online immediately; if an author does not choose the option his or her paper will be made freely available 12 months after publication. Authors choosing to publish under the Open Access model are also entitled to make their article freely available in institutional and subject-based repositories immediately upon publication, thereby satisfying self-archiving policies of the Wellcome Trust (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_wtd002766.html) among others. The journal's policies are already compliant with the NIH Public Access policy (http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/), whether or not an author chooses the Open Access option, as all authors are entitled to deposit their accepted manuscript (‘post-print’) 12 months after first online publication in Bioinformatics. The journal's self-archiving policy is available at http://www.oxfordjournals.org/access_purchase/self-archiving_policyb.html.
WHY WE ARE EXPERIMENTING WITH OPEN ACCESS
Our experiment follows a large-scale survey of the bioinformatics community in the latter part of 2004, to which over 900 responses were received. As part of the survey we asked the respondents to state which model they would prefer to see Bioinformatics adopt in the next two years: 39% preferred an optional model of open access where authors could choose whether or not to pay for open access; 38% preferred a mandatory model of open access funded by author charges; 20% preferred a non-open access model and 3% did not respond. In separate questions a similar number of respondents (
60%) said that they would support an optional and a mandatory model of open access for Bioinformatics. We concluded that there is clear support for the concept of open access amongst a large sector of the bioinformatics community. However we also received concerns about the affordability of the author charges required and the long-term sustainability of such a model, and we noted that there are mixed feelings about the desirability and importance of immediate open access primarily funded by author charges.
In light of the overall support for open access models from the majority of respondents coupled with concerns about the ability or willingness of all authors to pay publication charges, the journal decided to start experimentation by adopting an optional open access model. Unusually among such optional models, the Oxford Open model links the optional Open Access charge to institutional subscriptions. Corresponding authors based at institutions with online access to the current content of Bioinformatics are eligible for reduced, optional Open Access charges.
For example the optional charges for Bioinformatics authors in 2005 are as follows.
Original articles—optional Oxford Open charges.
For a corresponding author based at an institution with an online subscription to Bioinformatics:
- Regular charge per paper—£800 / $1500
- List B developing country charge (visit http://www.oxfordjournals.org/jnls/devel/ for a list of qualifying countries)—£400 / $750
- List A developing country charge (visit http://www.oxfordjournals.org/jnls/devel/ for a list of qualifying countries)—£0 / $0
- List B developing country charge (visit http://www.oxfordjournals.org/jnls/devel/ for a list of qualifying countries)—£400 / $750
For a corresponding author based at an institution that does not subscribe to the online journal:
- Regular charge per paper—£1500 / $2800
- List B developing country charge—£750 / $1400
- List A developing country charge—£0 / $0
- List B developing country charge—£750 / $1400
Application notes—optional Oxford Open charges.
For a corresponding author based at an institution with an online subscription to Bioinformatics:
- Regular charge per paper—£400 / $750
- List B developing country charge—£200 / $375
- List A developing country charge—£0 / $0
- List B developing country charge—£200 / $375
For a corresponding author based at an institution that does not subscribe to the online journal:
- Regular charge per paper—£750 / $1400
- List B developing country charge—£375 / $700
- List A developing country charge—£0 / $0
- List B developing country charge—£375 / $700
The full Open Access charge is in the order of that required to sustain Bioinformatics if it were to move to a fully open access model and could therefore no longer rely on income from subscriptions. However we realize that this charge may be prohibitive to many authors, for the moment at least—if open access predominantly funded by author charges is to prove sustainable in the long term large-scale changes in funding may be required. Therefore the idea behind the Oxford Open experiment is to link author charges to institutional subscriptions, giving a mixed-revenue model where income from subscriptions can be used to subsidize author Open Access charges. Over 3000 institutions currently subscribe to the online version of Bioinformatics through traditional subscriptions, consortia deals or the developing countries initiative.
On a practical note, authors choosing the Oxford Open model pay the appropriate charge by completing an online form which is under access control. Those using a computer within a subscribing institution are recognized by IP address and can reach a version of the form that provides reduced open access rates. Those who are not based at subscribing institutions cannot access this version of the form and therefore pay the full rates. Therefore in order to benefit from the reduced Open Access charges authors at subscribing institutions should make sure that their librarian has activated their online subscription to Bioinformatics (a guide to activating online access is available at: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/jnls/librarians/) and should also use an institutional computer to complete the Open Access form. You can find out whether you are based at a subscribing institution by visiting http://www.oxfordjournals.org/oxfordopen/list.html and by clicking the Bioinformatics Subscriber Test link.
SOME EARLY FEEDBACK
Early results show that this model is proving attractive to a number of Bioinformatics authors—at the time of writing this editorial 32 papers have been published under an open access model in Bioinformatics since July. As an important part of the experiment, Oxford Journals is also undertaking research with the Library and Information Statistics Unit (LISU) based at Loughborough University, UK, to investigate the effect of open access on online usage and citation patterns as we believe this will help us and authors to make informed decisions.
We are hopeful that this optional model will be attractive to authors—giving them freedom of choice—and that it will prove useful to users (open access articles are clearly indicated as such on the online contents page and can be freely re-used for research and educational purposes). If the model is successful it would allow Bioinformatics to make a financially viable move to full open access.
It is very important to us that we listen to the bioinformatics community—Bioinformatics is your journal and we want to offer you an attractive forum in which to publish your best work. So please let us know your thoughts on our Open Access experiments and indeed on any other aspect of the journal by emailing openaccess{at}oxfordjournals.org.
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