Poacher turns gamekeeper as first issue from gold open access publisher Social Sciences Directory is launched

Just nine months after its creation, UK-based 'gold' open access publisher Social Sciences Directory announced the publication of its first issue on September 24^th 2012. Social Sciences Directory is a multi-disciplinary journal that is published online-only.

It brings together both scholarly peer-reviewed research and additional value-added content (such as case studies, presentations, reports and conference proceedings), on a platform that is easily navigable and responsive to changing user behaviour. A central concept is that most research is now carried out online using keyword searches, and Social Sciences Directory simplifies the process by: removing individual journal titles in favour of a large repository; and by making the resulting content freely available. Submissions have been received from the UK, Australia, France, Brazil, Ethiopia, India and Kenya, whilst editors and reviewers from all over the world have offered their services, demonstrating an appetite and widespread support for the initiative.

Dan Scott, founder and director, commented:

"Having worked in subscription publishing for years, I heard academics and librarians complain about it but say there was no viable alternative. Our first issue, which has been created by a team of volunteer editors, authors and reviewers, with very little funding, will demonstrate that quality research can be rapidly peer-reviewed and published. Open access publishing provides significant benefits for authors and readers alike in widening access, allowing author copyright retention and providing better value-for-money for taxpayers. We will do so by charging very low article processing charges (GBP100/USD150/EUR120) and offering low-cost institutional memberships (GBP2,000/USD3,000/EUR2,400). Core to our thinking is that Social Sciences Directory provides a platform for published research across a broad range of disciplinary areas and from a wide international catchment. We intend to publish a regular schedule of research going forwards, as well as launching a sister website Humanities Directory in the next few months."

The first issue will contain papers on:

• Making successful transition to retirement in Australia
• Knowledge, attitude and belief of pregnant women in India
• Gender equality in the work place

Social Sciences Directory is an affiliate member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA).

Dan Scott will be a speaker at the Munin open access conference at the University of Tromsø, Norway (21-23 November 2012).