KU joins PeerJ’s Three-Year Membership Program


The University of Kansas Libraries entered a membership program with science publisher PeerJ that allows KU researchers to publish their work at no cost. 
 
PeerJ is an open access, peer-reviewed science journal. Some, but not all, open access journals use article processing charges, or APCs, for their articles to be published so readers can view research without any access restriction or cost to the reader. This new deal with KU will allow all members of the KU community to publish up to three articles within 36 months in PeerJ’s seven journals at no cost to the author.
 
KU is the sixth university to join the program, along with the University of California Berkeley, the University of Ottawa, Iowa State University, the University of Sussex and Western University, according to a PeerJ news release. 
 

Josh Bolick, head of the David Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication and Copyright, said that the PeerJ deal will help KU researchers.

"Supporting open publishing initiatives that eliminate article processing charges is an important way that KU Libraries serve researchers,” Bolick said. “This PeerJ agreement is a great example of that. It provides KU authors in life and environmental sciences, computer science, and chemistry with multiple publication opportunities over a three-year period at no cost to the researcher. I'm glad we're adding PeerJ to our growing suite of such options."
 
The PeerJ membership deal is a part of a larger initiative by KU Libraries to advance open access on campus. KU research published in PeerJ can be viewed through KU Libraries account page on the PeerJ website.
 

Enthusiasm for the PeerJ deal among KU researchers

A. Townsend Peterson, University Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the senior curator of the Biodiversity Institute, said he was very excited to hear about this new deal.
 
“PeerJ has created a lower-cost alternative, paired with innovative technology for making the publishing process seamless,” Peterson said.
 
Paulyn Cartwright, Baumgartner Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, said open access deals that waive publication fees help her and her students save their funds for research. 
 
“KU Libraries are once again demonstrating their strong commitment to open access publishing,” Cartwright said. “I am very proud to be part of this institution.”
 
Bruce Lieberman, professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, said he appreciated the membership’s inclusion of KU community members at all career stages.

“This will definitely help extend the scope and reach of KU researchers at a global scale,” Lieberman said  “As a KU scientist, I truly appreciate this support and consider it a very positive new benefit of working at this university.”

For more information about this program and scholarly communication services and programs in KU Libraries, please contact Josh Bolick.