Four Scholarly Publishing Organizations Release Revised Version of the “Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing”

From a Joint News Release (COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, WAME):

A revised version of the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing has been released by four key scholarly publishing organizations today. These guiding principles are intended as a foundation for best practice in scholarly publishing to help existing and new journals reach the best possible standards.

The fourth edition of the Principles represents a collective effort between the four organizations to align the principles with today’s scholarly publishing landscape. The last update was in 2018, and the scholarly publishing landscape has changed. Guidance is provided on the information that should be made available on websites, peer review, access, author fees and publication ethics. The principles also cover ownership and management, copyright and licensing, and editorial policies. They stress the need for inclusivity in scholarly publishing and emphasize that editorial decisions should be based on merit and not affected by factors such as the origins of the manuscript and the nationality, political beliefs or religion of the author.

Claire Redhead, OASPA Executive Director, said: “This review of the Principles has been our most intensive yet, with many new developments to consider and hone down to the essential elements that we believe all scholarly publishing can achieve, particularly small publishers in different disciplines and geographies. It’s been an important opportunity for our organizations to unite and pool our collective experience to update this well-used community resource.”

“We are pleased to release this latest revision of the principles today in collaboration with our partners. This fourth edition shows that we, as a community, are committed to future-proofing the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice for whatever lies ahead in the world of scholarly publishing and ensuring that they remain applicable to today’s publishing context and are easy to follow,” said Dominic Mitchell, DOAJ’s Operations Manager.

“After many rounds of drafts, review, and revision, we’re pleased to release the fourth version of the Transparency Principles. This new version provides more detailed instructions on achieving journal transparency, including more specifics on describing peer review practices, publication ethics policies, and author fees. As with previous versions, it emphasizes practices achievable by journals regardless of resources. This version has been thoroughly reorganized for easier use,” commented Margaret Winker, MD, WAME Trustee.

Direct to Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (September 15, 2022)

Filed under: Associations and Organizations, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Management and Leadership, News, Publishing