Pensoft Publishers, along with the ARPHA Platform, is issuing a statement to voice its support for the recent Conclusions on high-quality, transparent, open and equitable scholarly publishing issued by the Council of the European Union. The company expresses its alignment with the concerns and sentiments highlighted in the document, underlining the need to address the challenges present in the scholarly publishing landscape.
Pensoft Publishers stands firmly behind the necessity to address the prevailing issues within the scholarly publishing system. The company is committed to fostering an environment where robust competition can thrive, preventing the risk of monopolies and corporate dominance. Pensoft emphasizes the importance of cultivating an industry that allows for the involvement of start-ups and pioneers of varying scales. This, they believe, will drive a shift towards a scholarly publishing ecosystem that is truly open, equitable, transparent, and adhering to the principles of FAIRness.
The company acknowledges that the Open Access (OA) movement's original objective was to eliminate barriers to access publicly funded scientific knowledge by abolishing subscription fees. However, Pensoft identifies a shift towards replacing subscription costs with Article Processing Charges (APCs) and large-scale deals signed between major publishers and academic institutions. This transformation inadvertently sidelines smaller open-access publishers who were initially at the forefront of the OA movement, thus creating an unequal distribution of funds.
Furthermore, Pensoft supports measures that promote inclusive and fair competition within the industry. They argue that an environment fostering diversity among publishers – be it small, large, non-profit, commercial, or society-based – is the key to achieving quality, sustainability, and reasonable pricing in scholarly publishing.
The statement addresses various Open Access models, including Diamond OA, read-and-publish agreements, transformative agreements, and independent publishing platforms. Pensoft acknowledges the potential benefits and drawbacks of these models. They advocate for a diverse range of options to cater to researchers, libraries, and publishers with differing needs, thereby encouraging healthy competition.
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