From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:10:00 -0600

Does PeerJ deliver the "highest standards" in copyediting? Not likely
at the price it is charging authors to be published....  I fear that
part of the claimed economies by some OA publishers come at the
expense of cutting back on, or eliminating, traditional services like
copyediting. Is that progress?

Sandy Thatcher


> From: Peter Binfield <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:08:13 -0800
>
> Press Release, Feb 12th 2013
>
> PeerJ Publishes Its First Articles
>
> Journal Publisher Heralds in a New Era of Innovation and Affordability in
> Academic Publishing
>
> PeerJ (https://peerj.com), a new academic journal publisher, founded on the
> principles of affordability, innovation, and Open Access, published its
> first articles today.
>
> PeerJ, launched by Jason Hoyt (formerly at Mendeley and Stanford University)
> and Peter Binfield (formerly at PLOS ONE), has been shaped from the premise
> that 'if society can set a goal to sequence a human genome for just $99 then
> why shouldn't academics be given the opportunity to openly publish their
> research for a similar amount?'. By publishing its first 30 peer-reviewed
> articles today, PeerJ moves one step closer to realizing that vision.
>
> "We are doing things that no other publisher is doing," said Hoyt,
> Co-Founder and CEO of PeerJ. "It has been reported that the global academic
> community pays as much as $9.5B per year for access to academic journals. We
> believe that these costs could be reduced by as much as 75% using new
> business models such as that employed by PeerJ, and utilizing open
> distribution licenses such as the Creative Commons license. The result will
> be a net benefit to the global research effort and a welcome increase in the
> efficiency and effectiveness of academic publication."
>
> PeerJ aims to establish a new model for the publication of all well
> reported, scientifically sound research in the Biological and Medical
> Sciences. To achieve that, the organization has built an economical and
> efficient peer review and publication system and assembled an Editorial
> Board of 800 esteemed academics, including an Advisory Board of 20 (five of
> whom are Nobel Laureates). A rigorous peer review process is operated, and
> the journal strives to deliver the highest standards in everything it does.
>
> Uta Francke, an author on one of the launch day articles; PeerJ Advisory
> Board member; Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics, Emeritus, Stanford
> University School of Medicine; and Past President of both the 'American
> Society of Human Genetics' and the 'International Federation of Human
> Genetics Societies' said that she was "excited about the launch of PeerJ,
> which represents much more than just another Open Access publishing venture.
> The innovative membership model, including a commitment to review the work
> of one's peers, will ensure an interactive relationship of equals - authors,
> editors and reviewers - all striving for high quality research reports
> published in a totally transparent fashion after rigorous constructive peer
> review."
>
> Tim O'Reilly, the founder of O'Reilly Media and a thought leader in the Open
> Source movement, sits on the Governing Board of PeerJ Inc. and brings a
> wealth of knowledge, and passion, for the promotion of open, unfettered
> communication in academia. Tim had this to say about PeerJ: "It's easy to
> forget that technological revolutions also demand business model
> revolutions. Open access is transformative for science publishing, not only
> because it spreads knowledge more efficiently, but because it slashes the
> cost of producing and consuming that knowledge."
>
> Authors wishing to experience the future of publishing can now submit their
> articles at: https://peerj.com/
>
> # # #
>
> Essential Features of PeerJ:
>
> * PeerJ is a rapid, peer reviewed, 'Open Access' scholarly journal, using a
> Creative Commons license which means that all articles are entirely free to
> read, distribute, and reuse provided authors are properly attributed.
>
> * Publication decisions are made only on scientific validity (not on
> perceived impact).
>
> * PeerJ uses a 'Membership Model' whereby authors become lifetime members,
> giving them the ability to freely publish their articles thereafter. As a
> result, publication costs for authors are significantly lower than similar
> publications.
>
> * PeerJ has 800 Academic Editors, including 20 Advisory Board members (of
> which 5 are Nobel Laureates). Full list at:
> https://peerj.com/academic-boards/subjects/ and Advisors at:
> https://peerj.com/academic-boards/advisors/
>
> * PeerJ encourages 'open' Peer Review (meaning that reviewers are encouraged
> to provide their names; authors are empowered to reproduce their peer review
> history alongside their published article).
>
> * By utilizing short, iterative development cycles, users will see the rapid
> development of new features and innovative functionality, dramatically
> improving the academic publication and reading experience.
>
> * Learn more about PeerJ here: https://peerj.com/about/how-it-works/
>
> * Note: PeerJ PrePrints (the second component of the PeerJ publishing
> system) will debut in the coming months.
> * Reference for the quoted market size:
> http://www.stm-assoc.org/2012_12_11_STM_Report_2012.pdf
> * Links: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thePeerJ ; Twitter: @ThePeerJ ;
> Google+: http://peerj.com/+ ; Blog: http://blog.peerj.com/ ; Member sign up:
> https://peerj.com/signup/
>
> Prior Press Releases and Media Resources (including logos) can be found at:
> https://peerj.com/about/press/
>
> _______________________