Cambridge has established the Forum of Mathematics to offer OA journals to the mathematics community, with the same high-level peer-review process as traditional subscription journals, with standards set by an international editorial board of the highest calibre.
For the first three years Cambridge University Press will waive publication charges, though authors with access to specific funds for OA publication will be encouraged to pay a low charge of £500/$750.
This project has been under development for two years and Cambridge has earmarked significant investment to provide OA models to disciplines that do not enjoy a funding tradition similar to the life and biomedical sciences.
Managing Editor, Professor Rob Kirby, said: "The traditional journal subscription model is under pressure, owing to high costs and a lack of open access. It is great that Cambridge is leading the way by starting high-quality open access journals and underwriting the costs for an initial three year period."
Professor Tim Gowers, a founding member of the editorial board said: "I am delighted to support this venture. We urgently need new ways of disseminating mathematics that are appropriate for the internet age but that preserve what we value in the present system. The Forum of Mathematics is a very promising experiment in that direction, and I shall do what I can to help it to succeed."
Managing Director of Cambridge Journals Simon Ross said: "We're excited that this project has attracted the support of the top names in mathematics. Our commitment is to publish the best research in the discipline and in order to do this we need to provide a range of publishing models. The crucial element for this project is that we are providing stability for the early years to build a sustainable model. Investment is a sufficient condition for this aim but quality is the necessity, and that is where we are all agreed."
The Forum of Mathematics journals will be hosted on Cambridge's industry-leading platform, Cambridge Journals Online (CJO). Content will be available online from the beginning of 2013.
Reproduced courtesy of Cambridge University Press.
For more news stories visit www.cambridge.org; for more information contact press@cambridge.org
___________________________________________________