A NEW PAGE——A special issue of Nature looks at the transformation taking
place in scientific publishing.

After 350 years in the slow-moving world of print, scientific publishing has been
thrust into a fast-paced online realm of cloud computing and ubiquitous sharing. The
result has been an era of ferment, as estab- lished practices are challenged by new ones —
most notably, the open-access model in which the author pays publication fees upfront. Last
month, US President Barack Obama’s admin- istration declared that govern ment-funded
research papers should be made freely avail- able within 12 months of publication (see
Nature 494, 414–415; 2013). And from 1 April, research councils in the United Kingdom will
require the results of government-funded research to be open access on publication.
In this special issue, Nature explores the changing landscape. A News Feature weighs
claims that online, author-pays publishing can drastically cut costs (see page 426). Several
authors discuss the nuts and bolts of making open-access publishing work well — includ-
ing copyright pioneer John Wilbanks on open licensing agreements (see pages 440 and 442).
A report explores the dark side of open access: publishers whose tactics lead authors to feel
disgruntled or duped (see page 433). And a Careers Feature offers advice for researchers
trying to balance prestige, cost and career implications in deciding where to submit
manu scripts (see page 539). The special also looks at broader aspects of
publishing. Information scientist Jason Priem describes how the concepts of journal and
article are being superseded by algorithms that filter, rate and disseminate scholarship
as it happens (see page 437). A News Fea- ture investigates how some university libraries
are reinventing themselves to help scientists to archive and make accessible a new kind
of publication: data sets (see page 430). And Robert Darnton, director of the library at Har-
vard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, talks about the soon-to-be launched Digital
Public Library of America, which could ulti- mately hold 5 million books (see page 447).
Science itself is changing rapidly; the means by which it is shared must keep up.