The future of research dissemination: Innovation in publishing formats

Edited by: AUSTIN IGLESIAS SARAGIH 1 AND LAURA SHUPP2

Peer-reviewed scientific journals have been used in formal research communication for decades, but the quality, accessibility, timeliness, clarity, and fairness of articles resulting from the currently dominant publishing model have been questioned. Many novel online publishing strategies have emerged to address gaps in the traditional publishing model. Strategies that reduce or eliminate pre-publication peer review, such as preprints, reduce the cost and time required to publish, thus enhancing accessibility and accelerating science. Other modalities such as multimedia journals provide access to and credit for new types of academic contributions, as well as findings that never result in traditional publications. While scientific grant-funding agencies have begun to embrace preprints and data repositories, most of these organizations have not yet addressed other innovative publishing modalities. Funding for publishing infrastructure development, support for preprints, and changes to grant evaluation guidelines targeted towards rewarding nontraditional publishing could facilitate more widespread adoption of a variety of publishing strategies.

Highlights

1. Digitalization has given rise to new formats of scholarly communication that have the potential to rectify challenges in traditional scientific publishing.

2. Despite recent changes in grant funding policies to promote open-access publishing and data sharing, assessment of academic merit in the grant review process currently still relies heavily on publication in traditional peer-reviewed journals.

3. Strategies to increase the adaptation of alternative publishing modalities include the following: federal funding for research infrastructure, adjustments to grant-funding policies, and increased support for preprints and pre-publication peer review.

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