New Fully OA Blog launched

PeerJ is a founding member of the Fully OA Group who this week launched a new blog dedicated to Open Access

A brand new initiative, t he Fully OA blog , was launched this week by the Fully OA Group. Born out of the OASPA Interest Group of Fully OA journal organizations , the group provides a forum for exchange of ideas and, where appropriate, collaboration amongst publishers that only publish Open Access. The aim of the group – and of the Fully OA blog – is to provide unity, not by creating a single voice, but by bringing together a range of different voices and perspectives that share one commitment: full Open Access. Whilst the group shares, in essence, a single aim – a transition to fully open scientific communication – it is a broad church, with differing paths and approaches to achieving that future.

The Fully OA blog will shine a light on projects, people and organizations that are dedicated to Open Access and work towards removing barriers to a fully OA future. The blog welcomes proposals for contributions from anyone fully committed to OA.

The Fully OA Group meets monthly to provide a platform for exchange and collaboration among “fully OA” organizations. Membership of this group is based only on the organization’s publishing model (i.e. Open Access) and is independent of the organization’s business model, e.g. whether commercial or non-profit; charging APCs, or otherwise; Gold, Green or Diamond OA.

Current and founding members of the Fully OA Group include JMIR Publications, Frontiers, PeerJ, MDPI, Open Library of Humanities, Copernicus Publications, PLOS and Ubiquity Press.

As a founding member, PeerJ has found the group to be an interesting platform for engagement and discussion on the methods – and barriers – to achieving a fully OA future. The organizations involved are all trying to solve the same problem but with differing approaches, be that business model, product development or advocacy and engagement, which gives a great opportunity to learn from each other.

The blog’s launch post, shares key perspectives on the future of open: what it looks like, how each organization envisages achieving it, and what barriers may stand in the way.

Those interested in joining the group can reach out to the current Chair, Stephan Kuster: chair@fullyoapublishers.org Sign up for alerts of new content on the blog and on Twitter @fullyoa .