Frequently Asked Questions about the GSA and OUP Publishing Partnership

Amidst many changes in the scientific publishing and library environments, managing independent journals has become increasingly complex; this is particularly true for small-to-medium sized scientific societies like GSA who need to creatively focus their limited resources. For example, recent years have seen a massive rise in complex “Read and Publish” Open Access agreements between publishers and institutions, which require extensive resources to both negotiate and implement and which are typically not available to independent societies publishing a handful of journals. GSA journals will now be able to participate in those arrangements via OUP. A partnership also provides GSA with advantages of scale that come from working with a larger organization, thus offering GSA stability and sustainability during these uncertain times. There is also much that is not yet known about the near future of academic publishing, including funder requirements, new publishing models, and technological changes.

Given the challenging market for independent society publishers, the Board of Directors approved the exploration of a potential publisher partnership in 2019.

GSA partnered with consultants Clarke & Esposito and issued a Request for Proposals to commercial publishers and large university presses. Six proposals were reviewed by a committee¹ composed of GSA members, board members, and journal editors. Ultimately, Oxford University Press was selected as the publisher, and the decision was approved by the Executive Committee of the GSA Board of Directors.

¹Committee Members
Tracey DePellegrin – Executive Director, GSA
Mary Adams – Controller, GSA
Ruth Isaacson – Managing Editor, GSA Journals
Sarah Bay – Scientific Editor and Program Manager, GSA
Mark Johnston – Editor-in-Chief, GENETICS
Brenda Andrews – Editor-in-Chief, G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics
Howard Lipshitz – Chair, GSA Journals Publication Committee
Denise Montell – President, GSA Board of Directors
Hugo Bellen – Vice President, GSA Board of Directors
Erika Matunis – Secretary, GSA Board of Directors
Michael Buszczak – Treasurer, GSA Board of Directors

OUP’s publishing experience and digital capabilities will allow GSA to continue placing the highest priority on serving our members and community in publishing essential research while exploring exciting new opportunities to innovate and expand the reach of GENETICS and G3 in terms of authors, readers, editors, and reviewers. With over 400 years of experience in academic publishing, OUP is a respected publisher known for partnering with academic societies and, as a not for profit department of the University of Oxford, OUP has similar core values to GSA.

Partnering with OUP will allow our editors and staff to focus on their vital peer review and editorial roles while accessing OUP’s expertise and resources for production, publication, and promotion. The result for GSA will be the ability to sustain and grow the journals in a time of economic uncertainty. The result for authors will be greater exposure and readership for their articles with the same responsive, community-based peer review and editorial experience they have come to expect.

No. GSA retains full ownership of the journals. Under the partnership, OUP will provide publication services and support to the GSA.

GSA retains all editorial operations, including oversight of the peer review process and full control of editorial board management and journal scope and content.

OUP will take over production of accepted articles and the hosting and distribution of published content. OUP will also handle institutional sales, Read-and-Publish agreements, and journal marketing.

Yes. GSA and the journals retain full editorial independence. All editor appointments and editorial strategy will continue to be led by GSA, and the editorial boards will retain control of journal content. OUP representatives may attend some editorial board meetings at GSA’s request and will provide bibliometric analysis and other data to assist the journals in strategic planning.

No. The makeup of the editorial board and the scope of the journals remain entirely under GSA’s control. The processes governing submission, peer review, and acceptance of manuscripts will remain unchanged. Once a manuscript is accepted, OUP will manage production and distribution of that manuscript.

Yes. GSA journal editors and staff will continue to place the highest priority on serving our members and community with rapid publication of essential content. Additionally, OUP will work with GSA to ensure continuation of the journals’ high level of quality and service and a fast publication process. The journals will continue to publish peer–reviewed PDFs to ensure that accepted manuscripts are online and in PubMed within days of acceptance; what was previously termed Early Online will now be called Advance Articles. Additionally, the move to OUP will allow GSA to transition to a continuous publication model where author–approved final proofs are published to an issue and replace Advance Access articles within weeks, rather than being held several months for a final issue.

Yes. GSA members will continue to receive complimentary access to GENETICS; full access details will be sent to members closer to 2021.

APCs and Page Charges for GENETICS and G3 are set based on mutual agreements between GSA and OUP and will be comparable to current charges.

Previously, GENETICS and G3 referred to publishing costs as Page Charges. GENETICS article costs were determined by page and figure numbers with an additional charge for author choice open access. G3 article costs were a flat fee.

Going forward, G3 will use the language “Article Processing Charge (APC)” for its set publishing fee. GENETICS will charge a set APC when authors choose the open access option and will continue to use Page Charges (per page and figure) for those who do not choose open access. For those institutions that have read-and-publish or other agreements with OUP, OA fees for GENETICS may be covered by those arrangements.

Yes. GSA members will continue to receive a discount on Page Charges and Article Processing Charges at both GENETICS and G3. All charges are set based on mutual agreements between GSA and OUP.

Yes. OUP has its own Developing Countries Initiative, and it offers support for authors and readers through multiple programs including EIFL, Hinari, and Research4Life. Additionally, GSA will continue to provide support for Page Charges and Article Processing Charges to authors who are without funding or who are in financial hardship using the same policies as we have prior to the partnership with OUP.

Yes. GSA currently uses eJournalPress and will not transition manuscript and peer review systems for the foreseeable future.

GENETICS and G3 content will continue to be hosted by HighWire Press at the current URLs (genetics.org and g3journal.org) through 2020.

Starting in November 2020, Advance Articles (previously termed Early Online) will be published by OUP on the Silverchair platform. This means that manuscripts accepted late in the year 2020 will appear on the new OUP sites as uncorrected, free-to-read, peer-reviewed PDFs within days of acceptance and will be indexed in PubMed as usual. Those manuscripts will be added to issues published by OUP beginning in January 2021 as part of our new continuous publication model. Under this model, final proofs are published to an issue and replace Advance Articles within weeks, rather than being held several months for a final issue, meaning authors will have their final PDfs and citations sooner than they currently do.

The new sites for the journals are:

GENETICS: academic.oup.com/genetics
G3: academic.oup.com/g3journal

No, your citations will not change, nor will DOIs of your published papers. OUP will automatically redirect current URLs to the new URLs at OUP.

GENETICS will become part of the portfolio of journals that OUP markets and distributes worldwide. There are many different models via which any given institution might purchase access, including as part of the entire package of OUP journals, as part of smaller, subject-oriented collections, as part of a custom collection put together for a particular institution, or as a subscription directly to GENETICS that is independent of other OUP offers. Librarians will be able to select an option that best fits their needs, making it easier for universities, foundations, industry, and institutions to acquire access to the journal content.

OUP publishes over 350 journals, two-thirds of which are published on behalf of societies, including the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, Entomological Society of America, American Society for Nutrition, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Endocrine Society, Gerontological Society of America, plus journals like GigaScience and NAR. Beginning in 2021, OUP will also publish The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology, the journals of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB).