The FIGARO project: a new approach towards academic publishing

The current difficulties of scholarly publishing are set out and a response to them based upon publishing by the institutions of the authors involved is described. An account of the role of the FIGARO Project in facilitating such a response is then given. Learned Publishing (2003)16, 183–188 Bas Savenije The FIGARO project: a new approach towards academic publishing 183 L E A R N E D P U B L I S H I N G V O L . 1 6 N O . 3 J U L Y 2 0 0 3 profit. Innovations are uncertain and thus pose a threat to the stability of their businesses and profits. Also, many scientists are cautious when it comes to publishing their results. They are not eager to publish in media other than established, reputable journals. That is understandable because of the crucial role traditional journals play in quality assessment procedures. To a large extent, scientists derive their reputation from the journal’s reputation. Furthermore, they are often unaware of the financial problems caused to libraries by the pricing policies of publishers. While traditional publishers are reluctant to change the system of academic publishing, the academic community itself is undertaking projects that may lead to innovation. It can afford to do so, because with the help of information technology, the distribution of its members’ publications is a less hazardous activity than it was in the world of print publications. In my opinion, it is a good thing that different lines and strategies are being pursued by different organizations. It is impossible to predict the future of academic publishing and it is too early to declare a standard for it. Rather we should facilitate the rising of a new order in scientific information processes; in so doing so we should not be afraid of a certain degree of chaos. In these initiatives it can be seen that the traditional roles (publisher, subscription agent, bookseller, library, etc.) in the information chain are changing. In fact, it becomes clear that the borders between these roles are not given by god or nature, but that there is a continuum from producer to consumer of information. The borders within this continuum are determined by historical factors and technical possibilities. In innovative publishing models other borderlines can be observed. The traditional role of a publisher may well be performed by different parties: peer review and distribution might, for instance, be organized by different parties. The FIGARO project is an example of a new initiative that changes traditional roles. The FIGARO project: its philosophy Two Dutch universities (Utrecht and Delft) and two German universities (Oldenburg and Hamburg) have taken the initiative to set up an infrastructure for academic e-publishing in Europe and to establish a network of content providers making use of this infrastructure. This project, called FIGARO, is a European extension of the Dutch Roquade project (http://www. roquade.nl)2 together with the German GAP project (German Academic Publishers, (http://www.dl-forum.de/Foerderung/Projekte/ germanacademic/) and is financially supported by the European Commission (€1.4 million). The name FIGARO is an acronym for the Federated Initiative of GAP and Roquade. The mission of FIGARO reads as follows (see http://www.figaro-europe.net): As a partner organisation within the European academic community, our mission is to enhance scientific communication by improving the speed, simplicity and cost, which we aim to do through innovations in scholarly publishing. We strive to provide effective and efficient e-publishing services to individual scientists and scientific organisations through the use of a shared organizational structure and the utilization of open source and standard base software tools wherever possible. We are committed to supporting our customers by facilitating scientific communication and the publishing process in a way that allows them to retain ownership of their work as well as present their own profile or identity. FIGARO has three overall strategic objectives: 1. To realize technical innovation in the fields of collaborative document modelling and the development and implementation of a Web-based shared workflow model. 2. To realize business process innovation through the establishment of a collaborative business model for e-publishing within a virtual community of academic institutions and SMEs (small or medium enterprises). 3. To build an actual networked organization and production platform based on the academic community itself is undertaking projects that may lead to innovation 184 Bas Savenije L E A R N E D P U B L I S H I N G V O L . 1 6 N O . 3 J U L Y 2 0 0 3 the results of the above innovations. This networked organization also constitutes an effective distribution channel for emerging technologies and new standards in this field. FIGARO aims to support a variety of publishing models with a single technical and organizational infrastructure, which is modular and also allows for the use of as many or as few modules as are needed. So FIGARO will support: