Internet Archaeology is now fully Open Access

Monday, September 29, 2014

Internet Archaeology is now fully Open Access

As of today, Internet Archaeology is an open access journal. We've concluded our hybrid phase and will no longer charge a subscription for access to any of our past and future content.

Several things have spurred this decision. Over the last 4 years, we have made active efforts in this direction, by switching to a default CC-BY license, by opening up our back issues with an annual rolling wall, and by adjusting our subscription charges accordingly. During this time, we have also witnessed a marked increase in quality, funded submissions, including several themed issues. Internet Archaeology has always tried to be more than 'just a journal'. We explore the possibilities of the web and have delved into many different publication formats. This flexibility extends into everything we do. Being a small operation has meant we could be responsive to changes in the wider scholarly landscape, and the journal has simply reached the tipping point.

Funded through JISC's eLib programme, Internet Archaeology was launched in 1995 as a born-digital journal and published its first issue in 1996. It was also open access before the term was really invented. As part of the initial funding agreement, and as the only sustainable option for us at that time, we introduced institutional subscriptions in 2000, followed by subscriptions for individuals in 2001. By 2010, the open access debate had truly sparked into life and it was around that time that we started to publish open access content where funds were available. By the start of 2014 however, over 50% of the articles we had published were open access, so we have decided to make open access the focus of our efforts from now on.