“EDP Sciences and the Société de Mathématiques Appliquées et Industrielles (SMAI) are delighted to announce that their Subscribe to Open (S2O) model for open access publication of six mathematics journals* has been successfully supported by the library community for another year, allowing the journals to continue to be published in open access in 2023….”
“When a PDF is downloaded, who can read it?
At the start of the year I discussed the social model of disability and inaccessibility in relation to open scholarship, but since then I have not done much more in a practical sense. Here’s the best explanation of the social model of disability I have seen…
Content inaccessibility came back on my radar again when I read a recent study about content accessibility improvements for arXiv. This paper calls content accessibility “the next frontier of open science.” As we see a simultaneous increase in user-generated content platforms for publishing, where there is less control over what and how things get published, I would agree and argue that accessibility will become a bigger topic quickly.
Some of my main takeaways and juxtapositions from this paper include:
There is clear content inaccessibility: only 30% of people using assistive technologies rate all research as accessible (vs. 59% of people not using assistive technologies).
HTML is preferred for accessibility, but non-disabled people prefer PDFs.
Biggest improvement areas for accessibility are (1) PDF formatting, (2) images (alt texts), (3) math accessibility (e.g., MathML for screenreaders), (4) making data in figures parseable by screen readers.
People who don’t use assistive technologies don’t know what is required of them to make accessible documents
PDF is often preferred because it is easy/easier to save to reference managers….”
Abstract: This study aims to perform a quantitative analysis of open access journals in the field of Mathematics that are included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), an index that includes more than 18,206 peer-reviewed journals in all fields of knowledge published by 130 nations in 80 languages. According to the survey, 228 journals, or 1.25 percent, publish articles relating to Mathematics out of the 18,206 open access journals that the DOAJ indexes as of September 19, 2022. The Indonesia 35(15.35%) and United Kingdom 30(13.16%) are the top two countries publishing the most open access journals in Mathematics. Out of 228 journals, 192 (84.21%) are published in the English language. Journals adhere to Creative Common licencing in 260 (97.94%) of cases. While 128 journals (56.14%) limit the authors’ ability to hold full copyright, 100 journals (43.86%) do not. Publishers of open access journals in Mathematics favoured‘Blind Peer Review’ as 125 journals (54.82%) followed this system followed by ‘Double Blind peer review’ by 65 journals (28.51%), ‘Peer review’ by 34 journals (14.91%). Open peer review” wasfollowed by each 4 journals (1.75%).
“As an independent society publisher in a field where funding is limited, and article processing charges (APCs) are not viable, how do we see our open future? The American Mathematical Society (AMS) publishes some 25 journals, 80 books per year, and an essential discovery gateway for mathematicians – MathSciNet®. We do our own production, operate our own digital platform, provide in-house customer service, and — amazingly – even have our own print shop and warehouse for our books and journals — print still being a vital part of mathematical culture. Publishing accounts for 70% of operational revenues. Our membership sits at around 30,000 mathematicians around the world, and we provide programs and services to mathematicians around the world, not just members – indeed we give away much in service of our mission to support mathematics. Importantly, it is worth noting that around 18% of articles published in AMS journals are from authors supported by federal funding. If we add authors supported by a range of other funders around the world, the number is around 40%.
It is quite clear that open or public access is a good thing – how could it not be? The big question for scholarly societies, which has been raised again and again, is how may we provide openness in an equitable, inclusive and sustainable way? …
I am not going to argue that openness in itself leads to inequity. Indeed, it makes sense that if an author may publish their work without financial burden, and that readers can read articles, and engage with data without financial burden, the world will be a better place. Unfortunately, in our politically motivated rush to open, there are fissures in the publishing landscape that have the potential to drive inequity….
The AMS already offers zero embargo Green OA, and Diamond, along with subsidized Gold options. Some of our journals are just freely available. All our journal content is freely available after five years. And yet, this balanced portfolio still allows for revenues that support the mathematical community through the host of programs offered to mathematicians from students and early career researchers onwards.
As we look to funding agencies to interpret the “Nelson Memorandum”, perhaps it is this spirit of balance in the name of equity and inclusiveness that can inform our discussions.”
“I am an advocate of sharing the computer code used to produce tables or figures appearing in mathematical and scientific publications, particularly when the results produced by the code are an integral part of the research being presented. I’m not alone, and in fact the number of people thinking this way seems to be rapidly increasing, see for example [1–3, 6–8, 10].
But there is still much resistance to this idea, and in the past several years I have heard many of the same arguments repeated over and over. So I thought it might be useful to write down some of the arguments, along with counter-arguments that may be worth considering….”
“We are pleased to share the Subscribe-to-Open (S2O) 2022 Transparency Report. The annual report details costs and prices related to the EDP Sciences-SMAI Subscribe-to-Open program for the applied mathematics journals they co-publish.
As staunch advocates of open science, both EDP Sciences and the Société de Mathématiques Industrielles et Appliquées (SMAI) support the principle of transparency of costs and prices. The 2022 Transparency Report updates the range of metrics published in the 2021 transparency report such as evolution of subscription prices, renewal targets, publication costs, and other key measures. It also includes additional metrics such as publication statistics and subscription price per article. More detailed information is available to interested libraries on request….”
“We are excited to have found an open-access model that is equitable and makes sense for mathematics. Starting with 2023, we are adopting the Subscribe to Open model for these journals:
Geometry & Topology,
Algebraic & Geometric Topology,
Algebra & Number Theory,
Analysis & PDE, and
Pacific Journal of Mathematics.
Each year, if enough subscribers continue to support the journal, that year’s articles will be published open access?—?free to read by everyone and with no author charges….”
“EDP Sciences and the Société de Mathématiques Appliquées et Industrielles (SMAI) have announced today that six mathematics journals will continue to publish in open access under the Subscribe-to-Open (S2O) model in 2022*. This demonstrates the support from the library community for this equitable open access model which enables open access publication without article processing charges (APCs).
Last year, due to the challenging conditions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision to publish in open access under S2O was taken based on a range of exceptional factors rather than finances alone. In 2022, we are delighted to have reached our targets at the portfolio level, and it has therefore been a straightforward decision to keep the journals open….”
“The eScholarship Publishing program at the University of California is delighted to announce the publication of the first issue of Combinatorial Theory, a new open access journal focused on mathematical research in Combinatorics, with applications throughout the mathematical, computational and natural sciences. As described by its editors, Combinatorial Theory is “owned by mathematicians, dedicated to Diamond Open Access publishing with no fees for authors or readers, and committed to an inclusive view of the vibrant worldwide community in Combinatorics.”
Combinatorial Theory was founded in September 2020, when most of the editorial board for one of the oldest and most prestigious journals in Combinatorics, the Elsevier-owned Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Ser. A (JCTA), announced their intention to resign and start a new, open access journal. Learn more about the founding of this journal.
Combinatorial Theory is fully funded through 2025, thanks to institutional investments via the Open Access Community Investment Program (OACIP), including substantial funding from the University of California systemwide libraries. See the full list of journal sponsors….”
“In this interview, Francesco Maggi (Professor of Mathematics, UT Austin) and Enrico Valdinoci (Professor of Mathematics, University of Western Australia) talk with Colleen Cressman about their new fee-free, open-access journal in Mathematics, Ars Inveniendi Analytica, for which they are the founding Editors-in-Chief. Established in 2020, Ars Inveniendi Analytica leverages the open-access repository arXiv as infrastructure: An author posts a manuscript to arXiv and then links to it in the submission form to the journal. Upon undergoing peer review, and if accepted for publication, the final version of the article is made available on arXiv. Francesco and Enrico discuss the merits and challenges of this model of publishing.”
“The math police told Nutt to keep his answers to himself. If he offers testimony that requires “engineering knowledge,” the state will bust him like a math outlaw because he lacks a professional engineering license — something he never needed during his career. Engineers at manufacturing firms such as DuPont have an exemption to the requirement….”
“The AMS is not bucking the open access trend — indeed, we are launching a major new electronic-only, Diamond Open Access journal – Communications of the AMS (CAMS) – a research journal that sits at the interface of theoretical and applied mathematics. The journal is donor funded and will be endowed to ensure the journal succeeds in perpetuity.
However, we are looking for other ways to avoid reliance on article processing charges (APCs) for revenue. One of the most intriguing options is Subscribe to Open (S2O) – or at least it seems that way. But then again, there are pros and cons to a model that is philosophically appealing, but may not be sustainable in the long term….
For an independent academic society, I can see many advantages in S2O. I see the pros of a collective approach to openness that in principle is sustainable. Yet, I do see risks. Right now, there is an ethical force that sits beyond the boundary of logical institutional expenditure. Ongoing financial support requires university administration to accept the idea that their school should subscribe so that others may not need to. Will this approach work globally? Is this how an institution’s Provost or VP of Research sees sensible institutional spend going forward? On the one hand, usage may grow, but it is hard to see how there could be subscription, or financial growth with such a model – perhaps this is the point – but a publisher has to consider these issues….
Rather than letting all this keep me awake at night, I thought I would turn to a few experts with a few burning questions, asking them to help me navigate my way through this complexity.
As you read the thoughtful responses below, I am interested to know what you think. My take-away is that there is a symmetry and determination to S2O that appears to defy the logic of unsustainability. It is also clear that we need to know more over a period of time to see if S2O will work or not. The question I pose on Creative Commons Licensing appears to be an afterthought for many, and indeed the answers below solidify my sense that there is no clear link between S2O and the use of Creative Commons licensing, or if there is, it needs to transparently be the authors’ decision
Voices included here are: Curtis Brundy (Associate University Librarian, Iowa State University), Larry Howell (Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Academic Vice President, Brigham Young University), Judith Russell (Dean of University Libraries, University of Florida), Rick Anderson (University Librarian at Brigham Young University and Scholarly Kitchen Chef), Tom Ward (Professor of Mathematics and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education), Newcastle University), Richard Gallagher (President and Editor-in-Chief, Annual Reviews), Michael Levine-Clark (Dean of the University of Denver Libraries)….”
“An Open Access initiative to sustain the barrier-free availability of EDP Sciences’ complete mathematics portfolio
Paris / Berlin, June 10, 2021. In May 2021, EDP Sciences announced that its complete mathematics journal portfolio of six subscription titles—including the flagship journal “ESAIM: Mathematical Modelling and Numerical analysis”— transitioned to Open Access (OA) under the innovative Subscribe-to-Open (S2O) model. In partnership with Knowledge Unlatched (KU), EDP Sciences will be asking libraries and institutions currently subscribing to any of the six journals to renew for 2021 and beyond on a S2O basis, thus contributing to maintaining these journals Open Access in years to come….”
“It is confirmed that five mathematics journals published by EDP Sciences and the Société de Mathématiques Appliquées et Industrielles (SMAI) will join Mathematical Modelling of Natural Phenomena (MMNP) in open access under the Subscribe-to-Open (S2O) model in 2021*. The transition will further bolster S2O, a transformative model first introduced by Annual Reviews and recently endorsed by cOAlition S.
The decision to transition the journals to open access at this time has been reached despite challenging operating conditions. Inevitably, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to influence library finances and complicate subscriptions. The decision to proceed is therefore based on a range of exceptional factors and would not necessarily have been taken had finances alone been considered….”