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Open access

Open Access

Open Access is the practice of making published research freely accessible to all. Whilst there are a number of mechanisms for making this content freely available, the Gold open access model used by Parasitology Open requires that the published 'version of record' be made freely available to all immediately upon publication, with additional usage rights. As no subscriptions are sold to view the content, such open access journals are typically financially supported through an article processing charge (APC) levied on the submitting author's institution or funding body.

Benefits of open access with Parasitology Open

  • Visibility: Articles are freely available online immediately upon publication, giving the potential for increased exposure and dissemination.
  • Accessibility: Gold open access allows all readers with internet access around the world to access published research without having to pay for a subscription.
  • Quality: All submissions will be fully peer-reviewed, with acceptance decisions being made by an international Editorial Board independently of the Publisher.

There are many stakeholders in the publication of research: the researchers, the users and the funders. Different stakeholders have different views but many accept the fact that if you want, for example, validation, proper copyediting, presentation, sustainability, functionality (usability, reference linking, usage information, discoverability, etc), then all this has to be paid for. Traditionally this payment has been made via subscriptions. In open access publishing, the payment is made up-front, via article processing charges (APCs). APCs can be seen as a fairer payment mechanism, provided that the costs on which the charges are based reflect accurately the services offered, and provided that the acceptance process is based on peer review, rather than financial considerations.

Open access can therefore provide an opportunity to relate costs more directly to the means of publication, and it can provide a mechanism for publication that preserves the best aspects of traditional publishing whilst offering greater ease of use and more liberal copyright and ownership. Moreover, APCs mean that costs are not being met by an ever-decreasing number of libraries that are willing to subscribe, and that the costs of publication are therefore being shared more fairly, while at the same time maximizing dissemination.

Finally, publishing is competitive: authors compete for journal space, publishers compete for papers and for library budgets. Open access and APCs are a viable alternative for those authors who want to bring closer together the decisions about where to publish and how to pay, decisions that are divorced in the traditional subscription-based model.

For papers submitted up to December 31st 2017 the Open Access fee to publish in Parasitology Open has been waived.

2018 onwards

Publication charges Open Access publishing in Parasitology Open is funded through levying an article processing charge (APC) on each individual author's institution or funding body. For Parasitology Open we are committed to maintaining the APC at a level justified by real publishing costs, and the journal will have an associated APC of £1,500/$2,400 per article.

Cambridge University Press will operate a waiver policy and meet the publications costs for those authors from eligible countries (see Appendix for our current list). Others who genuinely have no access to funds will also be able to apply for a waiver.

From 2018 onwards, an APC will apply to all accepted papers, with a continuing waiver scheme for eligible countries.

The decision whether to accept a paper for publication will rest solely with the Editors, and without reference to the funding situation of the authors. The Editors, editorial board members, and reviewers will have no involvement with the billing of APCs and cannot grant waivers.

In the appropriate cases, the publication charge will be billed on acceptance of the article for publication.

Taxes

Taxes are not included in the article processing charge. Authors resident in any of the countries of the European Union have to add Value-Added Tax. Institutions paying the fee on behalf of the author can in most cases have the VAT refunded, or, by providing their VAT registration number (except UK), avoid paying VAT altogether.

Currency charges

Authors will be quoted and charged in US Dollars, or GB Pounds rate based on location as follows:

  • GB Pounds £: United Kingdom, Euro Zone
  • US Dollars $: All other countries

Colour charges

There are no charges for colour publication. Any figure provided in colour will be reproduced in colour online at no extra cost.

Copyright Information

The author will retain the copyright of published articles.

Authors will be able to post the final published version of their article anywhere (e.g. personal webpage, institutional repository), providing the work is fully attributed. We note, however, that we can currently only track usage statistics for article views and downloads from our own site.

Licences Articles will be published, by default, under a creative commons attribution licence (CC-BY). Authors will, however, have the option to publish under a CC-BY Non-Commercial Share Alike (CC-BY-NC-SA) licence or a CC-BY Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) licence if so desired.

Find out more about creative commons licences here