PEEER: Publishing for an Ethical and Equitable Environment in Research

Societies

Beginning in late 2023, in collaboration with scientific societies, we developed a Joint Statement on Scientific Publishing which was revised by the “Evolving the Publishing Ecosystem” Working Group (a collection of journal, library, not-for-profit-publisher, and society representatives) in Montréal, Canada, on the 30th July 2024, and formally adopted by PEEER on 10 October 2024.

We invite all scientific societies to adopt this statement, or a variant thereof, and implement the principles that reflect your current opportunities for facilitating positive change in the scientific publishing ecosystem.

Joint Statement on Scientific Publishing (Oct’24)

Scientific publishing in a form similar to what we know today has existed for several hundred years. Scientific societies and their members have contributed as authors, reviewers, and editors of publications throughout this period, and we therefore have vested interest in scientific publishing.  As scientific societies, our goals with regards to scientific publishing are to: 

  • disseminate high-quality peer-reviewed scientific publications
  • broaden participation in scientific research by increasing access to scientific publications 
  • encourage membership in scientific societies

Our intent is to meet these goals through society activities and society journals. 

Because publishing has undergone rapid change in recent decades, including increasing commercialisation, we have chosen to issue this joint statement to clarify our shared positions and to raise awareness among our members of actions that professional societies can take to work towards a more equitable publishing ecosystem. Specifically we aspire to:

  • support access to society-published research via globally affordable models  
  • encourage reciprocity among society journals, e.g. w.r.t. honoring membership discounts across journals, referrals to journals among societies, supporting re-use of reviews and editorial assessments 
  • collaborating with libraries to enhance the representation, visibility, and accessibility of society-owned journals that fully respect the principles of this statement
  • ensure society members are aware of and educated in choices they can make to support a more accessible, affordable, and equitable publishing environment
  • be transparent, including about costs associated with publishing, how income is used, contracts, and the roles of all partners in publishing agreements
  • support retention of rights by authors, reviewers, and editors to their contributions  
  • safeguard the legacy of scholarly knowledge through accessible long-term curation and preservation
  • produce society journals ourselves or with publishers and other institutions who share our values

This statement is endorsed by

– American Society of Naturalists (ASN)*
– Associação Brasileira de Ciência Ecológica e Conservação (ABECO)*
– European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB)
– Herpetological Association of Africa (HAA)*
– The International Biogeography Society (TIBS)*
– Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE)
– Society of Island Biology (SIB)*
– Spanish Terrestrial Ecological Society (AEET)*

Versions of this statement are also endorsed by:

– Herpetological Association of Africa (HAA)
– Italian Society of Biogeography (SIB)

*Endorsed the original statement or a version thereof