Open Science: Open Data, Open Models, …and Open Publications?

Martyn P. Clark*, Charles H. Luce, Amir AghaKouchak, Wouter Berghuijs, Cédric H. David, Qingyun Duan, Shemin Ge, Ilja van Meerveld, Chunmiao Zheng, Marc B. Parlange, Scott W. Tyler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalComment / Letter to the editorAcademic

Abstract

This commentary explores the challenges and opportunities associated with a possible transition of Water Resources Research to a publication model where all articles are freely available upon publication (“Gold” open access). It provides a review of the status of open access publishing models, a summary of community input, and a path forward for AGU leadership. The decision to convert to open access is framed by a mix of finances and values. On the one hand, the challenge is to define who pays, and how, and what we can do to improve the affordability of publishing. On the other hand, the challenge is to increase the extent to which science is open and accessible. The next steps for the community include an incisive analysis of the financial feasibility of different cost models, and weighing the financial burden for open access against the desire to further advance open science.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2020WR029480
Pages (from-to)1-8
Number of pages8
JournalWater Resources Research
Volume57
Issue number4
Early online date12 Mar 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors appreciate the constructive comments from the reviewers Christa Peters‐Lidard and Theresa Blume. The authors also appreciate the efforts of Caroline Aubry‐Wake, Anne Jefferson, and Wouter Knoben to take notes during the Town Hall meeting, and the efforts of Antonio Covington to administer and collate information from the open access survey. The authors thank the community members that participated in the Town Hall meeting and those that filled out the survey. Section President Ana Barros provided comments on this report. C. H. David was supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Funding

The authors appreciate the constructive comments from the reviewers Christa Peters‐Lidard and Theresa Blume. The authors also appreciate the efforts of Caroline Aubry‐Wake, Anne Jefferson, and Wouter Knoben to take notes during the Town Hall meeting, and the efforts of Antonio Covington to administer and collate information from the open access survey. The authors thank the community members that participated in the Town Hall meeting and those that filled out the survey. Section President Ana Barros provided comments on this report. C. H. David was supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Keywords

  • Open access
  • open science
  • the future of scholarly publications

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