PeerJ launches a sustainable open access solution
PeerJ, the award-winning open-access publisher, has announced the launch of the IABO Hub on behalf of the International Association for Biological Oceanography in an initial 5-year publishing partnership. The Hub is a community-led scholarly publishing channel for IABO’s members.
'Through this partnership we hope to boost the scientific impact of the IABO community by lowering the costs of publishing open access, enhancing the visibility of research conducted by our members, facilitating networking experiences within our association, and developing a Hub Cooperative Publishing Fund to support early-career researchers and IABO members from countries of emerging economies' said Enrique Montes, President of IABO.
'By working closely with IABO to develop their Hub, we have built an innovative, community-led publishing channel on top of PeerJ’s infrastructure and journal portfolio that will make open access a more attainable and equitable option for IABO’s members,' said Nathaniel Gore, PeerJ’s Director of Communities.
The IABO Hub
The Hub features the latest research from members of IABO, an international non-governmental non-profit organisation that seeks to promote the advancement of knowledge of the biology of the sea by providing opportunities for communication between marine biologists.
Submissions to the Hub are assessed by the Hub Editorial Team. Made up of IABO members, the Hub Editorial Team ensures that the research featured on the Hub is of interest to IABO's members. Articles are peer reviewed and published in PeerJ, the Open Access journal for life and environmental sciences, meaning IABO members can immediately access high-quality, indexed journals.
IABO members receive tangible benefits when they choose to publish via the Hub, including discounted publishing.
Like all PeerJ contributors, Hub users earn PeerJ Tokens for their contributions to peer review, which they can choose to donate to a Hub Cooperative Publishing Fund; they also have the option to convert into Tokens the discount they receive when publishing and add them to the Fund.
IABO members who don’t have access to funding to publish Open Access can request to use the Fund, which will be managed by IABO.
Supporters of IABO and funders of biological oceanography research can also buy Tokens to add to the Fund, which has been seeded by PeerJ so that there is funding immediately available.
Anyone can browse the Hub, read the research and make a presubmission enquiry, but IABO members can access more features - and unlock benefits - by joining the Hub Community.
'We invite all biological oceanography researchers to become IABO members and join the Hub Community - both of which are free to do. Researchers can apply to become an IABO member on our website' said Yasmina Shah Esmaeili, lead of IABO’s Communications Task Force.
The Hub is managed by IABO members, with dedicated support from a PeerJ Editorial Community Manager. IABO can access a range of metrics to measure the impact and success of the Hub, the community and their research, and Hub Admins can download reports and visualisations of the Hub’s progress and development.
Sustainable open access solution for societies and research associations
'Members of societies and research associations who choose - or are required - to publish open access often face inaccessible and unequitable APCs,' said Jason Hoyt, PeerJ’s CEO and co-founder. 'We’ve developed Hubs in such a way that any research organisation can build and manage their own publication. We’ll provide the support they need from our publishing and editorial services, including access to our industry-leading submission system. Meanwhile, their members are rewarded for their contribution to peer review, allowing them to cooperatively support each other to publish OA. We are confident that PeerJ Hubs is the missing link to sustainably transitioning to Open Access for societies and research associations across the sciences and the globe.'
Hubs are free for organisations to launch, but spaces in the roadmap are limited. If you’d like to discuss launching a Hub for your organisation, contact PeerJ today to start a conversation. Early adopters will have more input into the development of Hubs, with plenty of new tools and functionality in the pipeline.
'It’s been great working with PeerJ to develop our Hub,' says Cesar Cordeiro, Hub Editor and member of IABO’s Scientific Committee. 'Through a truly collaborative effort we’ve built something that will serve the needs of the biological oceanography community.'
PeerJ welcomes partnership enquiries from scholarly societies and research associations who want to launch their own Hub. Contact PeerJ or visit the PeerJ Hubs homepage and download the Hubs prospectus to find out more.
