Introduction and the EGU Publishing Model
The European Geosciences Union, in partnership with our publisher Copernicus Publications, employs a unique publishing model in the Earth, planetary and space sciences publishing sector. Not just open access, which EGU journals have embraced since the Union’s creation in 2002, but a fully interactive, publicly peer-reviewed publishing process, that takes scientific publishing beyond open access and into a transparent, and community focused approach to sharing new research.
In addition to that, all 20 high-quality EGU journals are operated not-for-profit, meaning that once the cost of publishing is covered, the surplus amount is returned to the EGU community in the form of funding, training and other opportunities.
| Feature | EGU Interactive Open Access Model | Traditional Commercial Model |
|---|---|---|
| Peer Review Process | Public, multi-stage, and interactive; includes community discussion before final acceptance. | Usually closed and conducted "behind the scenes". |
| Transparency | Reviewer reports, author responses, and community comments are published and citable with DOIs. | Review history is typically hidden and often deleted or lost. |
| Reader Access | Always immediate and free (Open Access) for both preprints and final articles. | Access is sometimes restricted by paywalls and requires subscriptions. |
| Cost | Sustainable with moderate article processing charges (APCs) and fee waiver schemes. Surplus is reinvested into the scientific community and Union activities. | APCs are variable but can reach extremely high values in some journals. Very high profit margins are not uncommon for commercial publishers. |
| Copyright | Authors retain copyright under Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0) licenses. | Publishers frequently retain copyright and may impose distribution embargoes. |
EGU Publications are transparent!
EGU, via Copernicus Publications, publishes 20 peer-reviewed open access journals in Earth, planetary, and space sciences, reflecting its leading role in open access publishing with public, multistage peer review and interactive discussion. This process incorporates two key stages.
Stage 1: After submission, manuscripts which pass a rapid access review are assigned a digital object identifier (DOI) and immediately posted on our preprint server EGUsphere. Interactive public discussion follows, featuring:
- Referee comments (anonymous or signed) and editor comment(s) if required
- Comments from the scientific community (signed)
- Authors' responses
All the above documents also receive a DOI and are permanently archived, remaining openly available and citable.
Stage 2: After the peer review stage is completed, accepted papers are published in the corresponding journal, with all manuscript versions, editor decisions and referee reports available with the finished paper.
In addition, authors retain copyright under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY), supporting reuse and transparency.
Overall, the publication model employed in the EGU journals maximizes transparency in scientific quality assurance by providing a lasting, visible record of the peer review process and scientific discourse and enabling rapid open publication of results. This approach keeps scientific output freely accessible to all and provides educational value of public access to scientific communication and discussion.
EGU Publications are community-driven!
The EGU publishing model actively engages the scientific community, ensuring the inclusive and collaborative evaluation of scientific research:
- Open interactive discussions allow direct community participation in the review process
- Thousands of volunteer referees and editors support the system
- Training opportunities for Early Career Scientists, through full documentation of scientific communication, e.g. EGU peer reviewer training
- Copernicus Publications acts as a flexible service provider that implements features suggested by the authors, reviewers and editors, allowing the community to shape the journals
EGU Publications are also committed to maintaining rigorous ethical and procedural standards, and ensuring that general aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion are considered. This can be seen through our guidance and statements on Neocolonialism and AI use in publications.
- EGU statement on Scientific Neocolonialism for Earth Day
- Statement on the use of AI-based tools for the presentation and publication of research results in Earth, planetary and space science
EGU Publications are not-for-profit!
As a learned society, EGU prioritises scientific quality over commercial interests, which makes us very different from many other publishers that must answer to shareholders or produce profit. EGU publications ensure we are operating in a not-for-profit way in three main ways:
- Moderate Article Processing Charges (APCs)
- EGU’s article processing charges are intentionally kept as low as possible and evaluated by our volunteer Publications Committee on an annual basis to support open access.
- Generous waiver scheme
- The EGU Publications waiver scheme offers full waivers for corresponding authors in countries identified by Research4Life, 50% discount for European Economically Disadvantaged (EED) countries, and 10% discount for EGU members; waiver upon request can be given to anyone who cannot afford the APC.
- Money not spent on publishing is re-invested in the EGU community
- EGU Publications is one of the key supporters of EGU’s mission to facilitate the science, policy, education and outreach activities of our members, by bringing together scientists and wider communities globally through a wide range of activities such as training courses and workshops. For more information about how to access these activities visit the Outreach, Education, Policy and Meetings and Events pages.