Title: Can scientists and their institutions become their own open access publishers?,
Abstract: This article offers a personal perspective on the current state of academic
publishing, and posits that the scientific community is beset with journals
that contribute little valuable knowledge, overload the community's capacity
for high-quality peer review, and waste resources. Open access publishing can
offer solutions that benefit researchers and other information users, as well
as institutions and funders, but commercial journal publishers have influenced
open access policies and practices in ways that favor their economic interests
over those of other stakeholders in knowledge creation and sharing. One way to
free research from constraints on access is the diamond route of open access
publishing, in which institutions and funders that produce new knowledge
reclaim responsibility for publication via institutional journals or other open
platforms. I argue that research journals (especially those published for
profit) may no longer be fit for purpose, and hope that readers will consider
whether the time has come to put responsibility for publishing back into the
hands of researchers and their institutions. The potential advantages and
challenges involved in a shift away from for-profit journals in favor of
institutional open access publishing are explored.