10 years of open access publishing at the BIR

Abstract

Free AccessEditorial10 years of open access publishing at the BIRSimon A Jackson and Kevin M PriseSimon A JacksonPeninsula Radiology Academy, Plymouth, UKSearch for more papers by this author and Kevin M Prisehttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6134-7946Patrick G. Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UKSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:10 Dec 2021https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20229001SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutBJR is the world’s oldest radiology journal, and for 117 years any non-member of the British Institute of Radiology (BIR) wanting to read articles published in BJR was charged a subscription. This model changed a decade ago, in 2012, when an open access option was launched for BJR and DMFR. Specifically, in exchange for an article processing charge (APC), authors could have their article made immediately available, allowing anyone worldwide with an internet connection to read the research without the barrier of a paywall.For some authors, the option to publish open access fulfilled a desire to make their work more widely accessible to readers, and for others, it satisfied a requirement from their funding bodies or institutions. Offering this option to our authors was a key milestone in the life of BJR and to mark this event, we will be celebrating 10 years of open access throughout 2022.Currently, BJR and DMFR offer a hybrid open access model where some journal articles are offered open access whilst others remain available only to subscribers. This model has now become the norm for many other journals and allows authors, depending on their circumstances, different options to publish their work. The model has proved successful. In 2012, we published just a single open access article in BJR, increasing to almost 20% of published content in 2021 (Figure 1).Figure 1. Open access content in BJR since 2012. Download Figure During 2015, the BIR decided to fully embrace open access publishing with the birth of a new journal BJR|Case reports. This was the Institute’s first fully open access journal, publishing only case reports, which were no longer accepted in BJR. The journal quickly gained a strong reputation and prominent position in the field, and published almost 100 open access articles in 2021.This was followed by the launch of BJR|Open in 2018. The journal is also fully open access providing a home for articles of all types. This too has been a success, accounting for almost 20% of the BIR’s 2021 open access content.Does open access mean any decrease in our publishing standards? Absolutely not! All articles submitted to any BIR journal, no matter where they are finally published, are subject to our rigorous double-anonymised peer review process. This has contributed to our 2020 BJR journal impact factor of 3.039.We are however fully aware that obtaining funding to cover APCs is not always easy for authors. At the BIR, we want to make open access publishing widely accessible and so we are delighted that we are able to offer pre-funded open access to an ever-growing number of authors. Corresponding authors of articles in BJR or DMFR based at participating institutions1 may be eligible to have their APC covered by their library. The process is simple and we direct authors along the right path once their article has been accepted. Since this route was launched in 2021, we have enabled 56 BJR authors to benefit from the previously unavailable open access option.Additionally, in order to support open access publication as well as researchers in some countries from the Global South, the BIR operates a waiver scheme allowing authors to publish their research in the BIR’s fully open access journals BJR|Open or BJR|Case reports without incurring an APC.2 Creating this equitable option is another way the BIR is expanding to become a truly global organisation.The past 2 years have been challenging for the global research community and during the height of the COVID-19 global pandemic, we published all research relating to the novel coronavirus open access with waived APCs.3 In particular, we wanted to ensure that any relevant research was disseminated as widely as possible, free of charge in order to support patient care.Figure 2. Simon Jackson Download Figure Figure 3. Kevin Prise Download Figure Reflecting on where we are today, we feel that it is hard to believe that a mere 10 years ago, there was no option at the BIR for authors to publish their work open access. During 2021, 19% of BJR content and 35% of all content in BIR journals was published open access. It is inevitable that these statistics will continue to grow as more and more authors choose to publish their work open access. Beginning this month, Australia and New Zealand join the list of countries where pre-funded open access is available for participating institutions. We look forward to other countries and institutions joining the list, enabling more researchers to take part in open access publishing.* [1]For more information see https://www.birpublications.org/pre-funded-oa† [2]For more information see https://www.birpublications.org/page/oawaiver‡ [3]For more information see https://www.birpublications.org/page/COVID-19 Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 95, Issue 1129January 2022 © 2022 The Authors. Published by the British Institute of Radiology History Published onlineDecember 10,2021 Metrics Download PDF

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