Change for the better.

Recently, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) took a major step forward in strengthening its journals program with the addition of a third title, Translational Vision Science & Technology (TVST). Along with TVST, ARVO’s family of journals now includes Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS) and, of course, Journal of Vision (JOV). Together, they cover all facets of eye and vision research at the highest standard in the field. And following the precedent set by JOV, ARVO’s Board of Trustees is exploring another step forward: a commitment to open access. Like JOV, the new journal, TVST, is free access immediately upon publication, and the aim is to have all three journals be open access in the future. To keep JOV strong, another change is necessary. Author pages fees, currently $85, have not risen in more than eight years. The current price structure also includes a ‘‘voluntary’’ page charge of $50, which most authors elect not to pay. We now find an increase is necessary to ensure a stable, high quality publishing program for our authors. Why do we need to do this? Despite admirable growth in pages, JOV has begun to suffer net losses as the costs of producing the journal, especially those incurred for services provided by our vendor partners, exceed the revenues generated by author fees. The 2014 price per page is $105 and will eventually align with the page charges of TVST and IOVS, which currently stand at $120 per page for 2014. To ensure that ARVO continues to offer a stable, high quality publishing program for our authors, the Board of Trustees is working to streamline and standardize fees across all three journals, simplifying the process for authors and eliminating multiple fees. We also need to ensure the entire program is consistently well-supported as we prepare for the eventual loss of subscription revenue that will come with open access. We are eliminating all other charges, including the voluntary page charge, revision fees and fees related to figures as ARVO’s Board aims to streamline and standardize fees across all three journals, simplifying the process for authors, eliminating multiple fees and ensuring the entire program is consistent and well supported. Beginning November 1, 2013, any new original manuscript that is submitted to JOV will follow the new flat fee model. I realize there will be a few articles that were submitted in 2013 and they will work their way through the system as revised manuscripts under the old pricing. Although changing page charges is never a decision we make lightly, we firmly believe the overall result will be a stronger ARVO journals program and the continuation of a great vision science journal.