A great deal of excitement but relatively little detailed information thus far has followed the announcement by Nature Publishing Group of a new online only journal with an author-pays open access option. NPG have managed and run a number of open access ... and hybrid journals as well as online only journals for a while now. What is different about Nature Communications is that it will be the first clearly Nature-branded journal that falls into either of these categories.
This is significant because it is bringing the Nature brand into the mix. ...
Neylon then discusses the journal's editorial focus, expected time to publication, relationship with the other Nature brand journals, peer review process, pricing, and licensing. For the most part, he finds more questions than answers in the announcement. Neylon concludes:
[I]n summary the outlook is positive. The efforts of the OA movement are having an impact at the highest levels amongst traditional publishers. ... But the devil is in the details. ...
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
