Sci 2019, 1, 16; doi: 10.3390/sci1010016. 1 www.mdpi.com/jou nal/sci
Edi o ial
E olu ion o Sci's Communi y-D i en Pos -
Publica ion Pee -Re iew
Claus Jacob 1,*, Ma yn Ri man 2, F anck Vazquez 2 and Ahmad Yaman Abdin 1
1 Di ision o Bioo ganic Chemis y, School o Pha macy, Saa land Uni e si y, Campus B2 1, D-66123
Saa b uecken, Saa land, Ge many; [email p o ec ed]
2 MDPI AG, S . Alban-Anlage 66, CH-4052 Basel, Swi ze land; [email p o ec ed] (M.R.);
[email p o ec ed] (F.V.)
* Co espondence: [email protected] land.de;
Recei ed: 1 Ma ch 2019 / Accep ed: 26 Ma ch 2019 / Published: 27 Ma ch 2019
Since he 1990s, scien i ic communica ion has wi nessed conside able ans o ma ion, d i en by
he ad en o echnologies such as web-based publishing, online-con e ences, globaliza ion o he
scien i ic communi y, a d ama ic inc ease in scien i ic ou pu , and, in some aspec s, also a changing
sel -concep ion o science and scien is s. Today, he dissemina ion o scien i ic ideas is as impo an
as inding and es ing hem in he i s ins ance. As philosophe s would say, dissemina ion has
become he ul ima e s ep in he adi ional chain o scien i ic disco e y. Wi hin his con ex ,
publishing has become mo e cen al, echoing bo h he banal “publish o pe ish” and he ee ha
has—o has no — allen in he woods o Be keley [1].
The de elopmen s wi nessed in publishing du ing las wo decades a e uly e olu iona y and
ha e e en changed he way science is conduc ed. Mode n web-based publishing in Open Access
jou nals, o ins ance, enables colleagues o submi and access eely millions o scien i ic manusc ip s
om ac oss he globe and a ound he clock. This has b oken down adi ional bo de s—geog aphical,
economic, cul u al, and o he wise. Mo eo e , his eedom o scien i ic exchange c ea es global and
equal oppo uni ies, and helps o subs an ially dec ease he cos s o scien i ic publishing.
A he same ime, o e he pas decade he e has been an explosion in he numbe o jou nals
and also in submissions, pushing he en i e pee - e iew p ocess close o collapse. The a ious
a emp s—o lack o a emp s— o il e and channel submissions and online publica ions has esul ed
in o en supe icial and subjec i e pee - e iewing, and high ejec ions a es o a guably good pape s.
The claim ha “we assume ha he e e ee has no ead ou manusc ip p ope ly o a all” has u ned
om a a he cu ious anecdo e o a bi e u h. As a esul , “scien ome ic pa ame e s” ha e been
in oduced o somehow ank science and scien is s, p e ending o quan i y he unmeasu able, o he
despai o any decen philosophe o science [2].
P o essional dissemina ion does no come o ee, and he adi ional “exclusi eness o he
eade ship” based on subsc ip ion cha ges has slowly bu s eadily gi en way o an equally, pe haps
e en mo e p oblema ic “exclusi eness o he au ho ship” wi h some imes uly as onomical A icle
P ocessing Cha ges (APCs) [3]. Fo some colleagues, he p oblem has shi ed om no being able o
ead a published a icle, o no being able o co e he cos s o publishing hei own wo k. In he
o me case, he manusc ip in ques ion and he science i con ains a e a leas placed on eco d.
Today, hese issues o scien i ic dissemina ion con on a ola ile scien i ic communi y, unse led
by inancial cons ain s, bogus jou nals, inapp op ia e e e eeing, impac ac o s, and Hi sch indexes.
F om hei pe spec i e, publishing should a leas be non-disc imina o y wi h ega d o hei inances.
The e iew p ocess should be open, anspa en , ai , and—abo e all— ho ough and p o essional
and should also main ain he o iginali y o he au ho s and no u n in o an e o o placa e he
Sci 2019, 1, 16 2 o 3
e e ees. Simul aneously, e iewe s should also no go unno iced, and hei ime and e o s should
be ewa ded. Thei e iews should be open o app o al and c i ique, p e en ing subjec i e o
o he wise “nas y” commen s.
In his si ua ion, a “Gedankenexpe imen ” may be app op ia e. Conside he demands o mode n
science and scien is s on he one side, and he eno mous possibili ies—and cons ain s—o mode n-
day publishing on he o he . Almos ine i ably, a publishing s a egy o he u u e eme ges. I elies
on some p o en p ac ices, such as Open Access, ye u he e olu ionizes and, in many aspec s, also
democ a izes he publishing p ocess.
The jou nal Sci, launched in 2018, aims o con e some o hese ideas in o sus ainable publishing
p ac ices [4]. A ecen mee ing be ween MDPI and he epis emological uni o Pha masophy a
Saa land Uni e si y who uns he academic “Pu ple Publishing” esea ch p ojec (h p://sci. o/5 8)
highligh ed many common objec i es. The e o e we decided o wo k oge he o e ol e Sci u he
o apply new ways by which Science can be mo e e icien ly e alua ed by he communi ies, be e
communica ed and se e co ec ly he in e es s o he scien i ic communi ies.
As pa o his philosophy, any manusc ip —jus like a composi ion by Moza —is seen as an
o iginal piece o scien i ic w i ing which e lec s no only he da a, bu also he indi idual
in e p e a ion o he au ho s. Such a piece is aluable and should no be ejec ed, and hus p e en ed
om dissemina ion, by jus wo o a ew e iewe s. In he cu en adi ional pee - e iew p ocess,
he ew in i ed expe s o en ha e li le ime o in e es in hei ask and may ha e been ins uc ed o
aim a a high ejec ion a e o keep impac ac o s high and page numbe s low. Such a manusc ip
should, ins ead, become widely seen and sc u inized openly by he en i e scien i ic communi y—o
a leas by he membe s o he communi y wi h a genuine in e es and expe ise in he manusc ip
and i s con en . In ag eemen wi h mode n heo ies o science, he communi y and i s subsequen
ac ions—no jus a couple o “undisclosed expe s”—would hen decide i he manusc ip and i s
con en a e uly scien i ically sound, impo an , imely, signi ican , and o alue o u he s imula e
esea ch and inno a ion.
Such an app oach necessa ily equi es publica ion o any decen manusc ip a p io i, i.e., a e i
has been submi ed by he au ho s and checked b ie ly o o m, plagia ism, language, and non-
o ensi e con en , ye be o e i is e iewed in he adi ional sense. In p ac ice, publica ion be o e
e e eeing is echnically possible and, apa om a oiding he ejec ion o po en ially aluable science,
has se e al addi ional bene i s. I places he manusc ip on eco d, ensu es ha all pieces o science
become a ailable, p o ec s he o iginali y and p ecedence o he au ho s, and ini ia es an open and
anspa en e iewing and e ision p ocess a pos e io i. The e iewing i sel commences a e
publica ion o he ini ial e sion and by any colleague in e es ed in commen ing. Sci will implemen
a “scien i ic ma ke place” s yle o e iewing, in an open and anspa en way whe e he numbe o
olun ee and quali ied e iews is no limi ed, and, wi hin a ealis ic ime ame, he au ho s will be
able o conside hese e iews and ca y ou e isions. In e es ingly, e iewe s will also no longe go
unno iced— hei e iews will be sha ed and app o ed/endo sed by o he s. As pa o his open,
anspa en , global and democ a ic e iew p ocess, eme ging scien is s in pa icula , will be able o
become in ol ed. Th ough his p ocess, hey can ea n espec wi hin hei espec i e communi y as
highly ega ded e iewe s.
As always, inno a i e ideas, such as publishing o iginal manusc ip s a p io i and e iewing
openly and a pos e io i, will ace some c i icism. P ope implemen a ion equi es con inuous
e inemen and de elopmen , aking on boa d cons uc i e eedback. None heless, his app oach
owa ds e iewing and publishing gene a es a global playing- ield o equal oppo uni ies, whe e
adi ional scien ome ic pa ame e s such as impac ac o s and Hi sch indexes a e no longe needed.
In Sci, each manusc ip ecei es i s indi idual a ing by he communi y, which is dis inc om
he a ing o he jou nal. Simila ly, he s anding o he au ho s will depend on hei associa ion wi h
hei highly a ed manusc ip s and no on hei abili y o publish in high impac jou nals. Re iewe s
will also be es eemed by he scien i ic communi y o hei excellen e iews wi hin a comp ehensi e
and anspa en ewa ding sys em, a ‘ hank you’ which has long been demanded by he scien i ic
communi y.
Sci 2019, 1, 16 3 o 3
Indeed, anspa ency and accoun abili y will be achie ed easily by he employmen o s a e-o -
he-a echnological solu ions, such as Scip o ile, a ool o iden i y and au hen ica e au ho s and
e iewe s and o a oid ake p o iles and au ho s. Fu he mo e, e iews and a ings, commen s and
eplies will be ully anspa en , o he bene i o au ho s, e iewe s, eade s and he p og ess o
good science.
We a e e y exci ed o p esen how we o esee he e olu ion o he jou nal Sci, and o sha e i
wi h you. We since ely hope ha his app oach will a ac you a en ion, in e es and, abo e all,
app o al. We a e looking o wa d o you submissions, commen s on pos ed manusc ip s, and any
o he eedback you may wish o sha e wi h us, ei he a p io i o a pos e io i.
Con lic s o In e es : The au ho s decla e no con lic o in e es .
Re e ences
1. Be keley, G. A T ea ise Conce ning he P inciples o Human Knowledge. Aa on Rhames: Dublin, I eland
1710.
2. Jones, T.; Hugge , S.; Kamalski, J. Finding a Way Th ough he Scien i ic Li e a u e: Indexes and Measu es.
Wo ld Neu osu g,. 2011, 76, 1–2
3. OPENAPC. h ps:// eemaps.in ac -p ojec .o g/apcda a/openapc/#publishe / (accessed on 11 Janua y 2019)
4. Ri man, M; F anck Vazquez, F. Sci—An Open Access Jou nal wi h Pos -Publica ion Pee Re iew. Sci, 2019,
1, 1.
© 2019 by he au ho s. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Swi ze land. This a icle is an open access
a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms and condi ions o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion
(CC BY) license (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/).