Journal of Cell Science enhances Open Access author options

We are making changes to ensure that all authors are able to publish with Journal of Cell Science, whatever their funder or financial status.

Here at Journal of Cell Science, we have always worked with our author communities to provide publishing options that help you meet any Open Access mandates coming from your funders or institutions. Or, importantly, options for those authors who don’t want to publish Open Access.

We can see that the publishing landscape is changing as more funders and institutions require some aspect of Open Access publishing from their researchers. In particular, funders participating in the Plan S initiative will have new requirements for their researchers from 2021. We also know that Open Access provides our authors with a wider readership and higher usage for their articles.

Along with our sister journals Development and Journal of Experimental Biology, we’ve therefore chosen to become a ‘Transformative Journal’.

What does this mean and how does it help Journal of Cell Science’s authors?

As a Transformative Journal:

• we will be compliant with Open Access mandates including Plan S
• we will continue to offer three publishing options to suit any author and their needs:
  1. Free publication (not Open Access): articles are free-to-read after 6 months
  2. Gold Open Access (author pays an APC)
  3. Open Access via institutional Read & Publish agreements
• we will continue to provide authors with metrics on usage, citation and online attention for their published articles
• in addition, we will annually compare these metrics for Open Access articles versus subscription content so that authors can make informed decisions over which publishing route to choose
• we will provide more transparent metrics including acceptance rates and speed to publication

Find out more about our three publishing options in this interview with The Company of Biologists Publisher Claire Moulton.

For more information about Transformative Journals, check out our FAQs for authors.

Find out if you are eligible for fee-free Open Access publishing in Journal of Cell Science. Check if your institution is participating in our Read & Publish initiative.

And look out for an Editorial in the journal later this year outlining our current Open Access uptake and some of the new transparent metrics.