The academic publisher Taylor &?Francis has acquired PeerJ, a?family of?seven open-access journals publishing research across life and environmental sciences, computer science and chemical science.

Founded in 2012, PeerJ is?known for its unusual pricing model: authors can pay either a?standard article processing charge (APC) or a?one-off lifetime membership fee that allows them to?publish up to?five articles a?year at no?further cost.

Taylor & Francis announced the acquisition in a? on 8?March, stating that it would ¡°enable PeerJ to expand its offering to researchers, including participation in Taylor &?Francis¡¯ popular manuscript transfer service, and will give scope to extend into new disciplines¡±.

Leon Heward-Mills, the publisher¡¯s managing director of researcher services, said in a statement: ¡°Taylor &?Francis has a strong track record of investing in well-respected open research publishers, such as F1000 and Dove Press, and supporting them to develop and innovate at greater scale.¡±

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Campus resource: The double-edged sword of open access publishing

PeerJ co-founder and publisher Peter Binfield described the acquisition as ¡°an?important step in PeerJ¡¯s evolution¡±, adding: ¡°This move will allow us to cement our original commitments to open research, equitable and inclusive publishing and rigorous peer review.¡±

His co-founder, Jason Hoyt, PeerJ¡¯s chief executive, commented: ¡°Our mission to make scientific research accessible to all whilst delivering 21st-century technology aligns perfectly with Taylor &?Francis¡¯ vision. With their backing and global network, we can bring our ethos and approach to even more researchers and readers worldwide.¡±

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Earlier this year, a paper published in Scientometrics indicated that large commercial publishers such as Taylor &?Francis, Elsevier, Springer Nature and Wiley had significantly benefited from the push towards open-access publishing through initiatives such as the European Commission¡¯s Plan?S project.

Authors Fei Shu, of the Chinese Academy of Science and Education Evaluation at Hangzhou Dianzi University, and Vincent Larivi¨¨re, from Universit¨¦ de Montr¨¦al, described a new ¡°oligopoly of open access publishing¡±, noting that while the number of open-access journals had risen significantly between 2008 and 2020, a ¡°shift in market concentration¡± towards larger publishers had also occurred.

¡°While we do not question the good intentions behind OA mandates such as Plan?S, those may have inadvertently given significant leverage to large commercial publishers,¡± the authors wrote.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com