Born out of the OASPA Interest Group of Fully OA journal organisations, the group provides a forum for exchange of ideas and, where appropriate, collaboration amongst publishers that only publish Open Access.
The aim of the group – and of the Fully OA blog – is to provide unity, not by creating a single voice, but by bringing together a range of different voices and perspectives that share one commitment: full Open Access. Whilst the group shares, in essence, a single aim – a transition to fully open scientific communication – it is a broad church, with differing paths and approaches to achieving that future, say the organisers.
The Fully OA blog aims to shine a light on projects, people and organisations that are dedicated to Open Access and work towards removing barriers to a fully OA future. The blog welcomes proposals for contributions from anyone fully committed to OA.
The Fully OA Group meets monthly to provide a platform for exchange and collaboration among “fully OA” organisations. Membership of this group is based only on the organisation’s publishing model (ie. Open Access) and is independent of the organisation’s business model, eg. whether commercial or non-profit; charging APCs, or otherwise; Gold, Green or Diamond OA.
Current and founding members of the Fully OA Group include JMIR Publications, Frontiers, PeerJ, MDPI, Open Library of Humanities, Copernicus Publications, PLOS and Ubiquity Press.
“We hope that through this initiative and the platform for engagement and discussion it offers, we will be able to promote our common goal of driving clarity around open access and what it seeks to achieve. Diversity of opinion is important, and we the members have them, but we are united in the fact that when we say we are committed to open access, we are committed to open access in its unadulterated form. Free, immediately available, universally accessible scientific knowledge for people everywhere,” said Frontiers’ Stephan Kuster, chair of the Fully OA publishers group.
Adrian Stanley, General Manager from JMIR Publications noted, “The monthly discussions with the Fully OA group are a great way to exchange updates and broad ideas, and work with like minded publishers in a collaborative and independent way, and have a collective voice, and a book club style gathering.”
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