A new open-access journal plans to pay its reviewers, ScienceInsider reports.
The University of California Press has launched a new online publication, called Collabra, that will start by focusing on life and biomedical sciences; ecology and environmental science; and social and behavioral sciences.
An open-access journal "aligns perfectly with our mission; to drive progressive change by seeking out and cultivating the brightest minds and giving them voice, reach, and impact," UC Press says.
The new journal also plans to pay the researchers who review articles for publication, in a departure from other journals' modus operandi. It plans to offer reviewers the choice of receiving the money themselves, donating it to a fund to help other researchers pay publication fees, or give it to their institution's own open-access activities, ScienceInsider adds.
"Collabra is not just about paying reviewers, but also about directing some of the value generated back into the research community," Neil Blair Christensen, director of digital business development at UC Press, tells ScienceInsider.
The journal will charge $875 in article processing fees, and $250 of that fee will go toward a "research community fund" to pay reviewers and editors, ScienceInsider adds. A points system that takes into account how many articles a person handles and whether he or she was a reviewer or editor of those articles plus how much the research community fund raises will determine how much that person is paid.