Journal declarations of independence: Difference between revisions

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* We borrow the term "declaration of independence" for this phenomenon from [https://sparcopen.org/ SPARC's] 2001 project to assist journals in [https://web.archive.org/web/20151109062238/http://sparc.arl.org/sites/default/files/Declaring_Independence.pdf Declaring Independence] ([https://declaring-independence.org/ revived in 2018]). Of course, SPARC borrowed the term from the U.S. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence Declaration of Independence].  
* We borrow the term "declaration of independence" for this phenomenon from [https://sparcopen.org/ SPARC's] 2001 project to assist journals in [https://web.archive.org/web/20151109062238/http://sparc.arl.org/sites/default/files/Declaring_Independence.pdf Declaring Independence] ([https://declaring-independence.org/ revived in 2018]). Of course, SPARC borrowed the term from the U.S. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence Declaration of Independence].  
* This list started as a [http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/lists.htm#declarations non-wiki list] maintained by [https://cyber.harvard.edu/~psuber/wiki/Peter_Suber Peter Suber], who moved it to OAD in April 2008.
* This list started as a [http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/lists.htm#declarations non-wiki list] maintained by [https://cyber.harvard.edu/~psuber/wiki/Peter_Suber Peter Suber], who moved it to OAD in April 2008.
* For data how the new journals fare, after editors resign from an older journal in order to launch the new one, see Mark Wilson, [https://mcw.blogs.auckland.ac.nz/2016/10/08/what-happens-to-journals-that-break-away/ What happens to journals that break away?] October 8, 2016. (Preview: Most new journals do better than the old journals.)
* For data how the new journals fare, after editors resign from an older journal in order to launch the new one, see Mark Wilson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170413203850/https://mcw.blogs.auckland.ac.nz/2016/10/08/what-happens-to-journals-that-break-away/ What happens to journals that break away?] October 8, 2016. (Preview: Most new journals do better than the old journals.)
* Related lists in OAD: [[Journals that converted from TA to OA]].
* Related lists in OAD: [[Journals that converted from TA to OA]].
* For real-time updates, some not yet reflected here, follow the [http://tagteam.harvard.edu/hubs/oatp/tag/oa.declarations_of_independence oa.declarations_of_independence] tag of the [http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/Open_Access_Tracking_Project Open Access Tracking Project].
* For real-time updates, some not yet reflected here, follow the [http://tagteam.harvard.edu/hubs/oatp/tag/oa.declarations_of_independence oa.declarations_of_independence] tag of the [http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/Open_Access_Tracking_Project Open Access Tracking Project].
* Wikidata identifier for this page: [https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q56229222 Q56229222].
* Wikidata identifier for this page: [https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q56229222 Q56229222].
* Also see the [https://retractionwatch.com/the-retraction-watch-mass-resignations-list/ Mass Resignations List] from [https://retractionwatch.com/ Retraction Watch].
* Chronological order.  
* Chronological order.  


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** (old journal) [http://www.springer.com/life+sci/journal/10682 ''Evolutionary Ecology'']  
** (old journal) [http://www.springer.com/life+sci/journal/10682 ''Evolutionary Ecology'']  
** (new journal) [http://www.evolutionary-ecology.com/ ''Evolutionary Ecology Research'']  
** (new journal) [http://www.evolutionary-ecology.com/ ''Evolutionary Ecology Research'']  
** Michael Rosenzweig's [https://web.archive.org/web/20000208064911/http://www.arl.org/sparc/rosenzweig.html statement on the background of his resignation]. April 11, 1999 (inactive link; see an alternate Rosenzweig discussion of the split [http://www.evolutionary-ecology.com/citizen/spring00speech.pdf here]).
** Michael Rosenzweig's [https://web.archive.org/web/20000208064911/http://www.arl.org/sparc/rosenzweig.html statement on the background of his resignation]. April 11, 1999.
** See [http://www.evolutionary-ecology.com/citizen/spring00speech.pdf another Rosenzweig account] of the split, undated.
** See Danielle Padula, [https://blog.scholasticahq.com/post/one-editor-s-experience-declaring-independence-from-a-corporate-publisher-and-thoughts-on-the-future/ One Editor's Experience Declaring Independence From A Corporate Publisher and Thoughts on the Future], ''Scholastica blog'', December 29, 2015.


* In 1998 most of the editorial board of the ''Journal of Academic Librarianship'' resigned to protest the large hike in the subscription price imposed by Pergamon-Elsevier after it bought the journal from JAI Press. Several of the editors who resigned then created ''Portal: Libraries and the Academy'' at Johns Hopkins University Press.  
* In 1998 most of the editorial board of the ''Journal of Academic Librarianship'' resigned to protest the large hike in the subscription price imposed by Pergamon-Elsevier after it bought the journal from JAI Press. Several of the editors who resigned then created ''Portal: Libraries and the Academy'' at Johns Hopkins University Press.  
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** (old journal) [http://www.springer.com/computer/artificial/journal/10994 ''Machine Learning''] (a.k.a. ''Machine Learning Journal'')  
** (old journal) [http://www.springer.com/computer/artificial/journal/10994 ''Machine Learning''] (a.k.a. ''Machine Learning Journal'')  
** (new journal) [http://jmlr.csail.mit.edu/ ''Journal of Machine Learning Research'']  
** (new journal) [http://jmlr.csail.mit.edu/ ''Journal of Machine Learning Research'']  
** [http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/jmlr/statement.html Public letter of resignation]. October 8, 2001.  
** [http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/jmlr/statement.html Public letter of resignation]. October 8, 2001. ([https://perma.cc/ZR9U-P4JD perma.cc link])
** Coverage in [http://lists.topica.com/lists/suber-fos/read/message.html?mid=1605051179&sort=d&start=0 FOSN for 10/12/01]. Further details in [http://lists.topica.com/lists/suber-fos/read/message.html?mid=1605116326&sort=d&start=0 FOSN for 10/19/01]. More [http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/pamphlet/2012/03/06/an-efficient-journal/ details on its success] from March 2012.
** Coverage in [http://lists.topica.com/lists/suber-fos/read/message.html?mid=1605051179&sort=d&start=0 FOSN for 10/12/01]. Further details in [http://lists.topica.com/lists/suber-fos/read/message.html?mid=1605116326&sort=d&start=0 FOSN for 10/19/01]. More [http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/pamphlet/2012/03/06/an-efficient-journal/ details on its success] from March 2012.


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== 2018 ==
== 2018 ==


* November 2018 (''ongoing, to be confirmed''): Wiley forces the journal ''Diversity & Distributions'' to switch to a 2200 $ APC and prevents the publication of a letter approved by Editor-in-chief, Janet Franklin. Franklin and academic editors resign ''en masse''. A version of a letter is published two months later: https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12888 . See [https://twitter.com/ecoinvasions/status/1034122930807033857 1] and [https://twitter.com/ZurellLab/status/1066979413928148993 2].
* November 2018 (''ongoing, to be confirmed''): Wiley forces the journal ''Diversity and Distributions'' to switch to a 2200 $ APC and prevents the publication of a letter approved by Editor-in-chief, Janet Franklin. Franklin and academic editors resign ''en masse''.  
** (old journal) [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14724642 Diversity and Distributions] (from Wiley)
** (new journal) TBD
** See the [https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12885 letter from the editors], January 9, 2019 ([https://perma.cc/QD7R-YKU2 perma.cc link]). More precisely, the letter is from "a large group of scientists [in the journal's field], including 40 of the [journal's] associate editors."
** See the [https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12888 letter from Wiley], January 9, 2019 ([https://perma.cc/YZR5-JYT4 perma.cc link]).
** See Twitter coverage, [https://twitter.com/ecoinvasions/status/1034122930807033857 here] and [https://twitter.com/ZurellLab/status/1066979413928148993 here].


== 2019 ==  
== 2019 ==  
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** (old journal) [https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-informetrics Journal of Informetrics] (from Elsevier)
** (old journal) [https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-informetrics Journal of Informetrics] (from Elsevier)
** (new journal) [https://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/qss Quantitative Science Studies] (from MIT Press; CC-BY, 6-800 $ APC)
** (new journal) [https://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/qss Quantitative Science Studies] (from MIT Press; CC-BY, 6-800 $ APC)
** See the [https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5683714-Letter-to-JOI-Board-09Oct18-NN.html letter from Elsevier] to the editors, attempting to answer their concerns (October 8, 2018). Also see [https://www.elsevier.com/connect/about-the-resignation-of-the-journal-of-informetrics-editorial-board Elsevier's public response] to the resignations (January 15, 2019).
** See the [https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5683714-Letter-to-JOI-Board-09Oct18-NN.html letter from Elsevier] ([https://perma.cc/3E95-CSC4 perma.cc link]) to the editors, attempting to answer their concerns (October 8, 2018). Also see [https://www.elsevier.com/connect/about-the-resignation-of-the-journal-of-informetrics-editorial-board Elsevier's public response] ([https://perma.cc/Z5WX-3B2Q perma.cc link]) to the resignations (January 15, 2019).
** See the [http://issi-society.org/media/1380/resignation_final.pdf letter of resignation] from the editors (January 10, 2019).
** See the [http://issi-society.org/media/1380/resignation_final.pdf letter of resignation] ([https://perma.cc/3AKF-SM3P perma.cc link]) from the editors (January 10, 2019).
** See the [http://issi-society.org/blog/posts/2019/january/the-international-society-for-scientometrics-and-informetrics-ends-support-for-journal-of-informetrics-launches-new-open-access-journal-quantitative-science-studies/ announcement] from the non-profit [http://issi-society.org/ International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics] (ISSI), which formerly supported the ''Journal of Informetrics'' and now launches (and owns) ''Quantitative Science Studies'' (January 14, 2019).
** See the [http://issi-society.org/blog/posts/2019/january/the-international-society-for-scientometrics-and-informetrics-ends-support-for-journal-of-informetrics-launches-new-open-access-journal-quantitative-science-studies/ announcement] ([https://perma.cc/JD7A-NSEN perma.cc link]) from the non-profit [http://issi-society.org/ International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics] (ISSI), which formerly supported the ''Journal of Informetrics'' and now launches (and owns) ''Quantitative Science Studies'' (January 14, 2019).
** See the [https://mitpress.mit.edu/press-news/qss-launch announcement] from MIT Press (January 14, 2019), and the [http://news.mit.edu/2019/new-quantitative-science-studies-journal-mit-press-0118 announcement] from MIT itself (January 18, 2019).
** See the [https://mitpress.mit.edu/press-news/qss-launch announcement] ([https://perma.cc/VWK4-2DED perma.cc link]) from MIT Press (January 14, 2019), and the [http://news.mit.edu/2019/new-quantitative-science-studies-journal-mit-press-0118 announcement] ([https://perma.cc/25NQ-CW9G perma.cc link]) from MIT itself (January 18, 2019).
* September 2019: Editors of ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'' announce their resignation effective December 2019 and found a successor journal.
** See Ludo Waltman et al., [https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/full/10.1162/qss_e_00025 Opening science: The rebirth of a scholarly journal], ''Quantitative Science Studies'', February 20, 2020 ([https://perma.cc/TPH3-URQN perma.cc link]).
** (old journal) [https://www.deutscherkunstverlag.de/buch/zeitschriften/zeitschrift-fuer-kunstgeschichte.html Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte]
 
* September 2019: Editors of ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'' announce their mass resignation, to take effect at the end of the year, and intention to launch an open-access, successor journal.
** (old journal) [https://www.deutscherkunstverlag.de/buch/zeitschriften/zeitschrift-fuer-kunstgeschichte.html Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte] (from [https://www.deutscherkunstverlag.de/aktuelles.html Deutscher Kunstverlag])
** (new journal) [https://21-inquiries.eu/ 21: Inquiries into Art, History, and the Visual]
** (new journal) [https://21-inquiries.eu/ 21: Inquiries into Art, History, and the Visual]
** See the [https://21-inquiries.eu/en/21-inquiries/ announcement in English] by Beate Fricke, Ursula Frohne, Johannes Grave and Michael F. Zimmermann as well as the cofounders of the new journal, Karen Lang and Avinoam Shalem
** See the [https://21-inquiries.eu/en/21-inquiries/ announcement in English] ([https://perma.cc/SAP6-4ZV3 perma.cc link]) by Beate Fricke, Ursula Frohne, Johannes Grave and Michael F. Zimmermann, as well as the cofounders of the new journal, Karen Lang and Avinoam Shalem.
** See the [https://www.horizons-mag.ch/2019/12/05/unbridgeable-differences-at-an-art-journal/ coverage by Michael Baumann] ([https://perma.cc/ATC3-RXUB perma.cc link]), December 5, 2019.
 
== 2020 ==
 
* January 31, 2020, the editorial board and advisory board of the ''European Law Journal'' resigned ''en masse'' to launch a new journal in the same niche under a different title.
** (old journal) [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14680386 European Law Journal] (from Wiley)
** (new journal) [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-law-open European Law Open] published with Cambridge University Press. An APC-OA fully open access journal with "a fee waiver system in place for unfunded authors".
** See the [https://verfassungsblog.de/what-a-journal-makes-as-we-say-goodbye-to-the-european-law-journal/ announcement] by the editorial and advisory boards, January 31, 2020 ([https://perma.cc/6EXX-Q6VJ perma.cc link]). ([https://europeanlawblog.eu/2020/02/04/what-a-journal-makes-as-we-say-goodbye-to-the-european-law-journal/ Another copy].)
 
* August 25, 2020, the editorial board of the ''Journal of Field Robotics'' resigned in order to preserve its academic independence and relaunch an equivalent journal without paywalls.
** (old journal) [https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Journal+of+Field+Robotics-p-9780471541288 Journal of Field Robotics] (from Wiley) ([https://perma.cc/BS32-KZE5 perma.cc link])
** (new journal) [watch this space]
** See the [http://journalfieldrobotics.org/JFR/DearColleague_Letter.html open letter] from the resigning members of the editorial board ([https://perma.cc/QD73-T5ZS perma.cc link]). "In the near future we will announce a new forum for research in Field Robotics that will maintain the academic integrity of our editorial process while also ensuring open dissemination of your research."
 
* December 31, 2020, most members of the editorial board of ''Journal of Combinatorial Theory A'' resigned ''en masse'' to launch a new OA journal on the same topic.
** (old journal) Journal of Combinatorial Theory A (from Elsevier)
** (new journal) [https://escholarship.org/uc/combinatorial_theory/ Combinatorial Theory] (from the University of California eScholarship Publishing program)
** See [https://twitter.com/wtgowers/status/1305253478047068160 Tim Gowers' announcement on Twitter], September 13, 2020, and the comments it triggered.
** See the [http://fpsac.org/2020/09/13/CombinatorialTheoryJournal/ blog post] by Victor Reiner, interim editor of ''Combinatorial Theory'', September 13, 2020 ([https://perma.cc/GH42-PGTX  perma.cc link]).
** ''Combinatorial Theory'' [https://osc.universityofcalifornia.edu/2021/12/combinatorial-theory-publishes-first-issue/ published its first issue] December 15, 2021. The same announcement describes how the journal is funded.
 
== 2023 ==
 
* April 2023, all the 40+ editors of ''NeuroImage'' resigned in order to protest the journal's high APC and launch a new OA journal.
** (old journal) [https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/neuroimage NeuroImage] (from Elsevier)
** (new journal) [https://imaging-neuroscience.org/ Imaging Neuroscience] (from MIT Press)
** See the [https://imaging-neuroscience.org/Announcement.pdf open letter] from the resigning editors ([https://perma.cc/JJJ7-B3TB perma.cc link]). "Elsevier has set the NeuroImage APC (article processing charge) at $3,450 USD. Compared against this, estimates ofdirect article costs at relevant journals are generally around $1,000 or lower. Scientists and funders increasingly feel that it is wrong for publishers to make such high profits, particularly given that the publishers do not fund the original science, or the writing of articles, or payments to reviewers, and pay minimal editorial stipends. As a result, authors and reviewers are increasingly refusing to work with high-profit journals."
 
* April 2023, Wiley fired the founding editor of the ''Journal of Political Philosophy'', which led many other editors to resign in protest. In early 2024 they announced that they had launched a new OA journal in the same field.
** (old journal) [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14679760 Journal of Political Philosophy] (from Wiley)
** (new journal) [https://politicalphilosophyjournal.org/ Political Philosophy] (from the Open Library of Humanities)
** See [https://dailynous.com/2023/04/27/wiley-removes-goodin-as-editor-of-the-journal-of-political-philosophy/ several accounts] (April and May 2023) of the firing of the founding editor, the resulting protests, and the editors' grievances against Wiley ([https://perma.cc/U5RS-GQSA perma.cc link]).
** See the [https://www.openlibhums.org/news/668/ announcement] of the new journal, January 11, 2024 ([https://perma.cc/XKE8-YZZU perma.cc link]).
 
* July 5, 2023, all 47 editors of ''Critical Public Health'' resigned to protest the journal's high APC and the editorial board's limited ability to set the journal's direction.
** (old journal) [https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/ccph20 Critical Public Health] (from Taylor & Francis)
** (new journal) TBA. Follow developments at the [https://cphn.net/ Critical Public Health Network].
** See the public [https://cphn.net/2023/07/05/resignation-letter/ resignation letter] (July 5, 2023, [https://perma.cc/V96F-9LKQ perma.cc link]), the [https://cphn.net/breaking-news/ resignation announcement] ([https://perma.cc/9Z9T-XFFX perma.cc link]), and the [https://cphn.net/2023/07/05/critical-public-health-editorial-board-resignation-faqs/ resignation FAQ] ([https://perma.cc/TSC9-Q3Y2 perma.cc link]).
 
* November 18, 2023, the editor-in-chief and three-fourths of the editors resigned from the ''Journal of International Students'' to protest the decision by the founding editor, without consulting other editors, to transfer the journal to an unnamed publisher and introduce article processing charges (APCs). In May 2024, the editors who resigned launched a new diamond OA journal in the same niche, ''Critical Internationalization Studies Review''.
** (old journal) [https://www.ojed.org/jis/index Journal of International Students]
** (new journal) [https://scholarship.shu.edu/cisr/ Critical Internationalization Studies Review]
** See the [https://web.archive.org/web/20231124105733/https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chrisrglass_i-sent-this-message-to-the-jis-editorial-activity-7131307865960542209-H4IZ resignation letter] by the editor-in-chief, Chris Glass, on LinkedIn, November 18, 2023.
** See [http://web.archive.org/web/20231201042344/jintstudents.com/index.php/jis/announcement/view/1 Statement on the Journal of International Students Updates], ''Journal of International Students'', November 27, 2023.
** See [https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/latitudes/2023-11-29 Mass resignations rock publication on international students], ''Chronicle of Higher Education'', November 29, 2023.
** See [https://doi.org/10.70531/2832-3211.1033 The Future of Open Access Publishing in International Higher Education], ''Critical Internationalization Studies Review'', May 29, 2024 ([https://perma.cc/5S36-E87N?type=image perma.cc link]).
<!-- https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=cisr -->
 
== 2024 ==
 
* January 4, 2024, all 10 members of the editorial board of ''Theory and Society'' (from Springer Nature) resigned and announced plans to launch a new OA journal in its place.
** (old journal) [https://link.springer.com/journal/11186 Theory and Society] (from Springer Nature)
** (new journal) Theory and Social Inquiry, forthcoming from the Open Library of Humanities.
** See the [https://scatter.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/tsi-statement.pdf letter of resignation], May 9, 2024 ([https://perma.cc/3YTQ-SNPM perma.cc link]). [https://scatter.wordpress.com/2024/05/13/introducing-theory-and-social-inquiry/ Another copy].
** See the [https://www.openlibhums.org/news/702/ announcement] of Theory and Social Inquiry from the Open Library of Humanities, May 14, 2024 ([https://perma.cc/MY3G-CZX2 perma.cc link]).
** See the [https://retractionwatch.com/2024/01/22/sociology-journals-entire-editorial-board-resigns-after-springer-nature-appointed-new-leadership/ coverage in Retraction Watch], January 22, 2024 ([https://perma.cc/WL5X-346L perma.cc link]).
 
* May 22, 2024 all 38 editors of ''Philosophy and Public Affairs'' resigned ''en masse'' to launch a new open-access journal on the same topics.
** (old journal) [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/10884963/homepage/editorialboard.html Philosophy and Public Affairs] (from Wiley)
** (new journal) ''Free & Equal: A Journal of Ethics and Public Affairs'', from the Open Library of Humanities. (Website forthcoming in September 2024.)
** See the unanimous [https://dailynous.com/2024/05/22/editors-at-philosophy-will-launch-new-oa-journal/ public statement] (also [https://dailynous.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/philosophy-public-affairs-public-letter-of-resignation.pdf here]) from the editors explaining their resignation from the Wiley journal and plans for a new no-APC open-access journal, May 22, 2024 ([https://perma.cc/7QB7-CZJG Perma.cc link]). "We take this step because we believe that scholarly journals — including our own — serve important purposes, and that these purposes are not well-served by commercial publishing. For three decades now, academic journals have suffered from their ownership by for-profit publishers, who have exploited their monopoly position to sharply raise prices, unduly burdening subscribing libraries and shutting out other institutions and individuals from access to research. The recent rise of the author-funded “open access” model has only reinforced academic inequality, since scholars with access to fewer resources are unable to pay the fees that make their work freely accessible; it has also incentivized commercial publishers to try to publish as many articles as possible and so to pressure rigorous journals to weaken or abandon their quality controls."
** See the separate [https://dailynous.com/2024/06/11/stilz-resigns-from-ppa-shares-instructions-to-authors/ resignation statement] of Anna Stilz, the ''Philosophy and Public Affairs'' editor-in-chief, June 11, 2024 ([https://perma.cc/7FNP-9KJA perma.cc link]).
** See the announcement of the new journal's [https://dailynous.com/2024/08/13/journal-created-from-the-ashes-of-ppa-gets-name-editor-in-chief/ title and editorial board], August 13, 2024.

Latest revision as of 12:46, 21 October 2024

This list is part of the Open Access Directory.

  • By a journal declaration of independence, we mean the resignation of editors from a journal in order to launch a comparable journal with a friendlier publisher or less-restrictive access policies. The kinds we are collecting for this list usually have two stages. First, an editor or group of editors resigns from a journal in order to protest its high subscription price or audience-limiting access rules. This is usually accompanied by a public statement explaining "the causes which impel them to the separation" (to quote Thomas Jefferson). Second, some of the resigning editors create a new free or affordable alternative journal to compete with the first and to embody their vision of wide access.
    • We include a few cases in which editors resigned en masse from a journal to protest restrictive access policies, but have not (or not yet) launched a new, less-restrictive journal.
  • We borrow the term "declaration of independence" for this phenomenon from SPARC's 2001 project to assist journals in Declaring Independence (revived in 2018). Of course, SPARC borrowed the term from the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
  • This list started as a non-wiki list maintained by Peter Suber, who moved it to OAD in April 2008.
  • For data how the new journals fare, after editors resign from an older journal in order to launch the new one, see Mark Wilson, What happens to journals that break away? October 8, 2016. (Preview: Most new journals do better than the old journals.)
  • Related lists in OAD: Journals that converted from TA to OA.
  • For real-time updates, some not yet reflected here, follow the oa.declarations_of_independence tag of the Open Access Tracking Project.
  • Wikidata identifier for this page: Q56229222.
  • Also see the Mass Resignations List from Retraction Watch.
  • Chronological order.

1989

  • In June 1989, Editor Eddy van der Maarel and most of his editorial board resigned from Vegetatio (W. Junk, then Nijhoff, then Kluwer) in order to launch the Journal of Vegetation Science (Opulus Press and the International Association for Vegetation Science).

1996

  • In December 1996, Shu-Kun Lin resigned as editor of Molecules, then published by Springer-Verlag, and relaunched the journal with Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI). Springer sued to prevent Shu-Kun Lin from using the same name for the MDPI journal but eventually dropped its suit.

1998

1999

2000

  • In January 2000 (to take effect in July 2000), Henry Hagedorn resigned as editor of the Archives of Insect Biochemistry & Physiology (Wiley-Liss) in order to form the Journal of Insect Science (originally, University of Arizona Library, now University of Wisconsin Library). JIS is a free online journal with no print edition. It is now supported entirely by the University of Wisconsin Memorial Library and charges no author-side fees. Its birth and early survival were assisted by SPARC.

2001

2003

  • On September 22, 2003, Compositio Mathematica announced that it was leaving Kluwer to be published by the London Mathematical Society and distributed by Cambridge University Press (starting in January 2004). The journal's editor of 20+ years, Gerard van der Geer, explained in a public note that the move was triggered by a long series of unwanted Kluwer price increases. The LMS edition of the journal is not free, but priced one-third below the former price.
  • On December 31, 2003, the entire editorial board of the Journal of Algorithms resigned in order to protest the high price charged by the publisher (Elsevier). On January 21, 2004, the same board then launched a new journal, Transactions on Algorithms, published by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

2004

  • On January 27, 2004, Editor in Chief Dominique Boullier and the entire editorial board of Les cahiers du numérique resigned from the journal and released an open letter explaining why. They point to CduN's high price and limited online access policy which "contradict our objectives as researchers".

2005

  • In 2005, Editors Charles and Marie-Louise Steele, George Herrmann, and "21 of the 23 members of the IJSS board of editors" resigned from the International Journal of Solids and Structures (IJSS) because "there was no indication that the commercial publishers were reversing the pressure for increased profits out of the limited institutional resources." Details on the "Background of JoMMS" may be found in a comment from Charles Steele to a June 2006 iMechanica article.

2006

  • On February 20, 2006, the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) dismissed the journal's editor-in-chief John Hoey and editor Anne Marie Todkill. In response, there was "a mass exodus of journal staff, including most of the editorial board." See these details.

2007

  • In June 2007, the Association for Symbolic Logic (ASL), having been dissatisfied with "unsatisfactory relations" with Springer, launched a "successor" journal to the Journal of Philosophical Logic with Cambridge University Press. For details on the Review of Symbolic Logic, see the ASL president Penelope Maddy's letter to the association's members below.
  • In August 2007, the editorial board of K-Theory resigned, citing Springer's exorbitant pricing structures and slow production times as the reasons for doing so. Unlike other similar declarations by editorial boards, this split was particularly contentious. Anthony Bak, one of the editors who resigned, withheld articles for publication in K-Theory for over a year, which he then offered publication in the newly created Journal of K-Theory (see linked texts below for additional information).

2008

2012

2013

2014

  • On September 15, 2014, 16 of the 19 editors of the Journal of K-Theory went on strike, demanding that the owner and chief editor, Anthony Bak, keep his promise and hand over the profits of the journal, to be used to fund scientific activities such as conferences. He refused, and they resigned, effective at end of 2014. The resigning editors formed a new journal, Annals of K-Theory, and Cambridge University Press stopped publishing the Journal of K-Theory. Annals of K-Theory is owned by the K-Theory Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization, and is published by Mathematical Sciences Publishers, also a non-profit. Annals is not open access.
    • (old journal) Journal of K-Theory (Cambridge University Press)
    • (new journal) Annals of K-Theory (K-Theory Foundation and Mathematical Sciences Publishers)
    • Also see the resignation letter of the 16 editors, November 5, 2014.
    • See the entry for 2007 above. The Journal of K-Theory itself was established in the wake of a declaration of independence. This is the first time that a journal set up by a declaration of independence was taken down by a later declaration of independence.

2015

2016

2017

2018

  • November 2018 (ongoing, to be confirmed): Wiley forces the journal Diversity and Distributions to switch to a 2200 $ APC and prevents the publication of a letter approved by Editor-in-chief, Janet Franklin. Franklin and academic editors resign en masse.

2019

2020

  • January 31, 2020, the editorial board and advisory board of the European Law Journal resigned en masse to launch a new journal in the same niche under a different title.
  • August 25, 2020, the editorial board of the Journal of Field Robotics resigned in order to preserve its academic independence and relaunch an equivalent journal without paywalls.
    • (old journal) Journal of Field Robotics (from Wiley) (perma.cc link)
    • (new journal) [watch this space]
    • See the open letter from the resigning members of the editorial board (perma.cc link). "In the near future we will announce a new forum for research in Field Robotics that will maintain the academic integrity of our editorial process while also ensuring open dissemination of your research."
  • December 31, 2020, most members of the editorial board of Journal of Combinatorial Theory A resigned en masse to launch a new OA journal on the same topic.

2023

  • April 2023, all the 40+ editors of NeuroImage resigned in order to protest the journal's high APC and launch a new OA journal.
    • (old journal) NeuroImage (from Elsevier)
    • (new journal) Imaging Neuroscience (from MIT Press)
    • See the open letter from the resigning editors (perma.cc link). "Elsevier has set the NeuroImage APC (article processing charge) at $3,450 USD. Compared against this, estimates ofdirect article costs at relevant journals are generally around $1,000 or lower. Scientists and funders increasingly feel that it is wrong for publishers to make such high profits, particularly given that the publishers do not fund the original science, or the writing of articles, or payments to reviewers, and pay minimal editorial stipends. As a result, authors and reviewers are increasingly refusing to work with high-profit journals."
  • April 2023, Wiley fired the founding editor of the Journal of Political Philosophy, which led many other editors to resign in protest. In early 2024 they announced that they had launched a new OA journal in the same field.

2024

  • May 22, 2024 all 38 editors of Philosophy and Public Affairs resigned en masse to launch a new open-access journal on the same topics.
    • (old journal) Philosophy and Public Affairs (from Wiley)
    • (new journal) Free & Equal: A Journal of Ethics and Public Affairs, from the Open Library of Humanities. (Website forthcoming in September 2024.)
    • See the unanimous public statement (also here) from the editors explaining their resignation from the Wiley journal and plans for a new no-APC open-access journal, May 22, 2024 (Perma.cc link). "We take this step because we believe that scholarly journals — including our own — serve important purposes, and that these purposes are not well-served by commercial publishing. For three decades now, academic journals have suffered from their ownership by for-profit publishers, who have exploited their monopoly position to sharply raise prices, unduly burdening subscribing libraries and shutting out other institutions and individuals from access to research. The recent rise of the author-funded “open access” model has only reinforced academic inequality, since scholars with access to fewer resources are unable to pay the fees that make their work freely accessible; it has also incentivized commercial publishers to try to publish as many articles as possible and so to pressure rigorous journals to weaken or abandon their quality controls."
    • See the separate resignation statement of Anna Stilz, the Philosophy and Public Affairs editor-in-chief, June 11, 2024 (perma.cc link).
    • See the announcement of the new journal's title and editorial board, August 13, 2024.