The Center for Open Science (COS) has announced that Lifecycle Journal, a 3-year research and development pilot on a new model of scholarly communication, is now open for submissions. Lifecycle Journal reimagines scholarly publishing in line with scholarly values of rigor, transparency, sharing, correction, and community evaluation. Lifecycle Journal offers a dynamic, community-driven approach to scholarly publishing, providing a new experience for authors, reviewers, and readers to critically engage with research throughout the entire research lifecycle.
The traditional publishing model often limits the role of the research community in shaping how scholarship is shared and evaluated. Lifecycle Journal shifts that paradigm, putting the scholarly community in control of the publishing process. The journal fosters a community of practice for innovators and evaluators to explore, test, and improve new methods of assessment. By building a collection of human-led, machine-assisted, and empirical credibility evaluations, Lifecycle Journal empowers researchers to:
• Share all aspects of their research
• Publish outputs throughout the research lifecycle
• Receive feedback from community-led evaluation services
• Update their research with revisions, progress, and new outputs
• Engage the community on the meaning, impact, and next steps of their work
• Be rewarded based on diverse, meaningful assessments of their research quality
Traditional publishing practices often create barriers to transparency and collaboration, limiting opportunities for sharing intermediary findings or engaging in self-correction. Lifecycle Journal addresses these challenges by providing a network of evaluation services that go beyond traditional peer review, including human-led assessments, machine-learning tools, and empirical evaluations. These services enhance transparency, improve research quality, and empower researchers to showcase the value and impact of their work through community-driven feedback and credibility assessments.
Lifecycle Journal represents a step toward addressing systemic challenges in scholarly publishing. By aligning the rewards of publishing with transparency, rigor, and quality, the journal provides a framework that is both innovative and responsive to the evolving needs of the research community.
This pilot embraces innovation and metascience from the outset, incorporating machine and human evaluations to foster continuous improvement and accountability. COS is committed to sharing successes and challenges openly, enabling the broader research community to build upon these experiences.
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