Perspective on Open Access Journals

Document Type : Promotion Article

Authors

1 School of Physics, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM) , Member of IR. Academy of Sciences

2 Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran,Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Open Access Journals (OAJ) are scientific periodicals which are generically published on-line and can be accessed by readers free of charge. The majority of OAJ, the number of which has increased explosively in the recent years, depends on publication fees they charge from their authors. This dependence is a potential threat to the criticality of refereeing process and hence to the quality of the accepted articles. OAJ, on the one hand, bring the opportunity of a wider, faster and easier access for their readership and the spread of research results and on the other hand, have the threat of low quality papers. In this article we discuss the phenomenon of OAJ, the opportunities and threats associated with them, and the appropriate ways to face this phenomenon in the scientific research in Iran.

Keywords


[1] Kronik,D.A.(1976)."History of Science and Technical Periodicals" , Scarecrow.
[2]ScientificJournals,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_journal, and references therein.
[3]http://admin-apps.webofknowledge.com/JCR/help/h_eigenfact.htm.
[4] http://www.eigenfactor.org/faq.php
[5] For example, Ian (24 April 2012). "Harvard University says it can’t afford journal publishers’ prices". TheGuardian.(http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/apr/24/harvard-university-journal-publishers-prices).
[6] حسین زاده بیرق، مریم (۱۳۹۰). "بیانیه ناشران خصوصی متشکل از انجمن های علمی و دانشگاه ها نشریه نشاء علم سال اول، شماره ۲، صفحات 63- 65سال ۱۳۹۰
[7]E.g. see http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jun/08/open-access-research-inevitable-nature-editor, by P. Campbell, editor-in-chief of Nature journal.
[8] Butler, D. (2010). Nature 464, 822, http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100407/full/464822a.html
[9] Van Noorden, R. (2012). Nature 486, 302, http://www.nature.com/news/britain-aims-for-broad-openaccess-1.10846