Editorial: Open Access on the move

Abstract

Finally, the open access movement has fully reached the United States, with the White House announcing that by 31 Dec. 2025, scientific publications and the supporting data resulting from federally funded research should immediately be made publicly accessible upon publication (The White House, 2022, August 25). The new policy will require publications and the supporting data generated from federally funded research to be freely accessible. This policy will boost the open access model for publications, and brings the United States more in line with Europe, which has adopted a similar policy, the Coalition S program (European Science Foundation, 2022), stating that research funded by national, regional, and international funding bodies must be published open access. While the U.S. policy does not directly demand publication in open access journals, open access journals provide an ideal platform to implement the new policy. Vadose Zone Journal has embraced open access since 2018 and publishes articles under the Gold Open Access model, meaning that the final published version of an article is freely available online for anyone, anywhere to download and read. The drawback of open access for individual authors, however, is that open access journals levy an article processing charge (APC), which must be paid prior to publication and by the authors or their institutions. As Editors, we have heard many times that authors are hesitant to publish in an open access journal because of the APC, given that authors have the alternative to publish for free in subscription-based, non-open-access journals. This is a valid argument, as research funding is limited and authors may not have the funds available to pay for publications costs. Nonetheless, for the “free” subscription-based journals, the cost for the publication is ultimately paid by the libraries, which pay for the subscriptions of scientific journals. Coalition S, as well as the new U.S. policy, while requiring immediate open or public access, will also help authors cover the APC by providing additional funding for the added publication costs and by providing incentives to research and funding agencies to make transformational deals with publishers to waive the APC for authors. Such transformational deals between universities/research agencies and publishers are already common in Europe and will allow researchers to publish their research in open access journals without having to pay the APC themselves. Currently, such transformational deals are rare in the United States, but the new policy will likely change that. Some transformational deals, particularly in the United States, allow authors to publish for free in hybrid journals, but not in Gold Open Access journals. This puts Gold Open Access journals like the Vadose Zone Journal at a disadvantage, and such unilateral transformational deals should be discouraged. Also, open access publication in hybrid journals offering open access without transformational deals would ultimately lead to increased costs if authors pay open access fees and libraries still need to subscribe to the journals. Publishing Gold Open Access is a step to ensuring equitable access to research for all and as such should be embraced, valued, and cherished. However, the open access model needs to be further developed and improved. Existing programs that help authors to cover the APC should be expanded, and new initiatives need to be developed, to ensure equal access for authors to publish in open access journals. The open access model is susceptible to misuse, as shown by the existence of a plethora of predatory journals, which aggressively solicit authors to submit articles and then make profit from APCs without regard to scientific quality. Such misuse needs to be prevented, for instance through legal interventions like in a recent ruling by the United States District Court District of Nevada (a ruling affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit) against an open access publisher (Federal Trade Commission v. OMICS Group Inc., 2019). Authors need to be aware of predatory journals and should only submit to trusted open access publishers. Vadose Zone Journal is committed to publishing high-quality research and its supporting data freely and with immediate accessibility for all. In addition, as a society-owned journal, Vadose Zone Journal directly supports the Soil Science Society of America, a member-owned international scientific society that provides quality research-based publications, educational programs, certifications, science policy initiatives, meeting forums, and a professional home for scientists. The Soil Science Society of America publications, including Vadose Zone Journal, have recently partnered with the commercial publisher John Wiley & Sons, who has taken over the marketing and production aspects of journals (management of the journal's website, advertising, marketing, typesetting), while the editorial process (review, manuscript approval, editorial policy) remains the society's responsibility. In turn, Wiley receives some of the revenue of the journals for its services, but another portion of the journals’ revenue directly flows into society activities. Thus, publishing in Vadose Zone Journal is also a commitment and testimony to support society-owned journals as opposed to those owned by commercial for-profit publishers.