Big switch to open access in particle-physics publishing

Nature : The “entire field of particle physics"—already a “paragon of openness” thanks to postings to the arXiv preprint server—is “set to switch to open-access publishing.” The Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics ( SCOAP ³ ) is arranging for nearly all of the field’s articles (“about 7000 publications last year”) to become “immediately free on journal websites,” funded by “upfront payments from libraries.” Twelve journals are involved, including the American Physical Society’s Physical Review C and Physical Review D and Elsevier’s Physics Letters B and Nuclear Physics B. The deal “would make 90% of high-energy-physics papers published from 2014 onwards free to read,” and “six of the journals will switch their business models entirely from subscription to open access.” Peter Suber, an open-access proponent at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, calls the deal “the most systematic attempt to convert all the journals in a given field to open access.” The consortium continues to negotiate with publishers to include additional journals.