Frequently Asked Questions

1. Will on-line access adversely affect membership?

Society members are accustomed to receive print copies of the journal for their membership fees.

We do not think so. Printed versions were assumed to be one of the main incentives to keep members within the Society in the past. Cases where a Society journal would decline (or even cease in some cases) in volume and reputation due to lack of modernization would have a more adverse affect on membership.

2. Who pays the costs?

There are several options and mixed models are possible, e.g.:

  • Members will have the option to publish in the open access journal for free (or to a limited extent depending upon the budgetary constraints of the Society), or for a reduced price (in case the Society decides to request authors’ fees to publish in the journal).

  • Non-members will have to cover the full price for publishing - one more incentive to stay a Society member.

  • Members can be requested to willingly decline receiving the printed version, with the reason that the saved money will be used to improve the quality, publishing technology and dissemination of the journal. Some members will accept this and some will not; the transition period may last 2 to 3 years.

  • Additional incentive to relocate the printing costs to advanced open access publishing is that anyone could download, distribute and print the journal papers for free.

  • Even in case the printed version will be fully ceased, it is always possible to print-on-demand as many copies as required to supply libraries, institutions or members who want and are willing to pay (a reduced price) for the printed version.

  • The Society even can "profit" from the price difference between what authors pay to the Society for publishing (or cover it in the form of membership fees) and what the Society pays to the publisher.

3. Will the Society be able to retain a degree of editorial control if it moves to an independent publisher?

In our case, definitely yes! Pensoft provides a cutting-edge on-line journal platform and services, hosting and technical assistance, but the editorial control can remain entirely in the hands of the Editorial Board.

4. Will it be possible to continue publishing papers in languages other than English?

Yes, this is possible. However, this will hamper the dissemination of such papers, due to the language barrier and restriction in the usage of automated dissemination tools.

5. How to change the publishing model of the journal so as to reach the highest technological standards in the on-line environment?

  • Turn the journal into a fully electronic format (with option for print-on-demand of reprints of whole issues for whatever purposes - subscriptions, purchase or exchange).

  • Use online editorial management system which increases the publishing efficiency; get rid of time-consuming correspondence with referees, authors or technicians by implementing customasible email templates.

  • Publish content simultaneously in several formats: PDF for archiving and printing, HTML for semantic enrichment and easy reading, XML for automated harvesting, ePub for apps, etc.

  • Provide professional archiving in world's leading archives (e.g., PubMedCentral, CLOCKSS, etc.).

  • Use markup of text at the finest detail possible; use of domain-specific markup makes the journal different from many others in the same domain.

  • Publish content-rich articles including data and multimedia.

  • In the new electronic format, each article can be published when ready. Issues can  be completed upon publication of the last article.

  • There should be no limitation in number of papers and issues electronically published per year.

  • Publish an editorial to announce new journal policy and associated press releases to be widely distributed among the Society members and other related associations, websites, etc.

  • Appeal to the Society members to support the journal with manuscripts during the first 1-2 years, until the journal will be evaluated for ISI coverage (if not yet covered).

  • Ensure the widest possible dissemination of the published content as whole articles or parts (example: taxon treatments or images) to increase the online presence of the journal.

  • Provide active and professional promotion and PR.

6. What is the difference between "PDF-only" and "advanced" open access publishing?

Well, anyone can publish a PDF on Internet in open access. This does not mean, however, that the content of that PDF is properly published and especially disseminated. The Internet is overwhelmed with information. It becomes increasingly difficult to sort out, index and archive this information so that it reaches the readers and the appropriate aggregators, to be used, re-used and cited, to the benefit of the authors, their institutions and the community in general.

Advanced open access publishing means much more than to display a PDF on the Web!

More about advanced open access publishing can be found at: http://arphahub.com/about/services

7. How much does it cost?

Not that much as you might think. The cost model varies from case to case and several different options are possible.