(November 10, 2022) JMIR Publications is pleased to be part of a brand new initiative, the Fully OA blog, launched this week by the Fully OA Group. Born out of the OASPA Interest Group of Fully OA journal organizations, the group provides a forum for exchange of ideas and, where appropriate, collaboration among 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. While 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.

The Fully OA blog will shine a light on projects, people and organizations that are dedicated to OA 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” organizations. Membership of this group is based only on the organization’s publishing model (i.e., Open Access) and is independent of the organization’s business model, for example, 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.   

Adrian Stanley, General Manager from JMIR Publications noted, “The monthly discussions with the Fully OA group are a great way to exchange ideas and updates, working with like-minded publishers in a collaborative and independent way to progress open access goals, and have a collective yet diverse voice.”

Stephan Kuster, Frontiers, chair of the Fully OA publishers group, remarked, “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.” 

The blog’s launch post shares key perspectives on the future of open: what it looks like, how each organization envisages achieving it, and what barriers may stand in the way: https://fullyoapublishers.org/2022/11/04/fully-oa-publishers-the-future-of-open/

Those interested in joining the group can reach out to the current chair, Stephan Kuster  (chair@fullyoapublishers.org).

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