PCI Webinar - Ethical publishing: how do we get there?
Today, a few major, for-profit conglomerates control more than 50% of all articles in the natural sciences and social sciences, driving subscription and open-access publishing fees above levels that can be sustainably maintained by publicly funded universities, libraries, and research institutions worldwide. Alternatives to commercial publishing model exist, but how do we transition towards them?
In this webinar talk - the first episode of a series organized by the Peer Community In initiative - I describe the main problems of today’s dominant academic publishing system, and introduce alternative systems. I also explain the reasons why the move toward them can be perceived as costly to individual researchers, and demystify common roadblocks to change. Finally, in view of the above, I provide a set of guidelines and recommendations that can enable a more rapid and effective transition toward ethical publishing.