The Open Access publisher PeerJ says that the response to their new model for Open Access - Annual Institutional Memberships, or AIMs - has been overwhelmingly positive, and they are delighted by the groundswell of enthusiasm for non-APC Open Access by new and prospective members.
Since launching AIMs at the beginning of the summer with their first partner, the University of Bath, PeerJ have welcomed five new Institutional Members, with many more to follow. The new Members are:
- The University of Oklahoma & University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
- Northumbria University
- University of Ottawa / Université d’Ottawa
- The University of Texas at Austin
- Arizona State University
Colleen Lyon, Head of Scholarly Communications for University of Texas Libraries, said “The unlimited publishing option offered through the PeerJ Annual Institutional Membership works well for us for a few reasons: it allows us to predictably plan our expenses for the year, doesn’t require us to closely monitor funds, and doesn’t create a situation where we may have to tell authors that the funds are already spent. This helps us promote Open Access publishing because we can confidently tell all our corresponding authors that they can publish in PeerJ journals at no cost to them.”
Leah Maughan, Scholarly Communications Librarian at Northumbria University, said “We are pleased to be able to take part in the PeerJ Institutional Membership scheme; exploring alternatives to APCs for the global research community is an important part of improving research culture for all. Membership will help us to achieve our open research aims of developing, embedding and recognising open research practices, while maximising publishing opportunities across the institution.”
“We are excited to welcome our new Institutional Members, both brand new partners, and existing partners who have renewed their support of Open Access and PeerJ by joining the AIMs program,” said Nathaniel Gore, Director of Communities at PeerJ. “We have been absolutely delighted by the volume of interest in AIMs since we launched the initiative with the University of Bath. We’re pulling out all the stops to keep up with demand, and thank all of our new partners - and prospective partners - for their support. The response shows a real appetite for change, and a drive to remove both the barriers that authors can face when choosing Open Access and the administrative overhead that has accumulated for librarians.”
A PeerJ Annual Institutional Membership (AIM) provides unlimited, frictionless OA publishing for institutional partners and their faculty, and are simple to manage, easy to purchase and provide great cost saving opportunities. To find out more, visit the PeerJ website or contact PeerJ and ask to find out what an AIM could mean for your institution.