From: JJE Esposito <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2019 17:16:34 -0400

I think the point of the story is not that Frontiers is overrepresented but that Smits's insistence that publishers were surveyed before the promulgation of Plan S is, at best, a gross exaggeration.

But does it matter? Funders are going to do what they are going to do. Researchers will either comply or lose their funding. Publishers will either find a way to create compliant venues or they will not. So Frontiers benefits, but a small society publisher is put under and has to sell or license rights to one of the big commercial publishers, whose scale makes it possible to make money with low APCs. That's the likely (unintended) consequence: more industry consolidation and fewer independent society publishers.

Joe Esposito

On Sun, Jul 14, 2019 at 2:42 PM LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: "Jan Erik Frantsvåg" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2019 06:28:52 +0000

I am sceptical. Not that I think the facts are made up, but I see no trace of any activity to look for communication with other publishers – why only Frontiers?

 

I have seen scholars saying that Plan S is perfectly suited to Frontier’s business models, implying less suited for the business models of other publishers. I fail to see that Frontier’s business model is uniquely suited to Plan S, it fits most APC-based/commercial OA publishers.

 

Robert-Jan Smits has said that Plan S was developed partly based on consultations with publishers. Unless someone can document Frontiers was massively over-represented in this process, I will remain sceptical to the value of this story.

 

Best,

Jan Erik 

 

Jan Erik Frantsvåg

Open Access Adviser

The University Library

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

phone +47 77 64 49 50

e-mail [log in to unmask]

http://en.uit.no/ansatte/organisasjon/ansatte/person?p_document_id=43618&p_dimension_id=88187

Publications: http://tinyurl.com/6rycjns

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3413-8799

 


 

From: "Jim O'Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>

Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2019 12:54:38 -0700

This came across my screen today, making me aware that I know too
little about the author of the post, the publisher involved, and the
other facts known about the origins and development of Plan S.  Is
this posting credible and how could it help me think about the plan
and the issues?

https://forbetterscience.com/2019/07/11/frontiers-and-robert-jan-smits-emails-reveal-how-plan-s-was-conceived/

Jim O'Donnell
ASU