Dear Editor,
Thank you for inviting me to review this manuscript.
Unfortunately, I cannot review for Nature journals as long as the new and enormous open-access APC fee is in place. The $11,528 now being charged is significantly above the average APC of the biggest for-profit publishers, estimated as around $2,660 (https://undark.org/2021/01/14/big-science-publisher-is-going-open-access/).
‘$11,528’ is not just a large number. It is one semester of a graduate student’s stipend, a neuroimaging study, funds for 4-6 graduate students to attend a scientific meeting. These charges take away money, often from government grants, that would otherwise be spent in important ways - for trainees and for science more broadly.
The ‘Editorial Assessment Charge’ piloted in some Nature journals is also a worrying development. Charging more than $2,000 upon submission is not only excessive, but adds barriers where none should exist.
As this response shows, one consequence of these fees is that Nature journals no longer have their pick of the best and most relevant experts to peer-review manuscripts. Instead, you only have access to the smaller pool of those experts who do not object to these fees. I am one of those who object. The research community is increasingly recognizing that submitting to a Nature journal means that a manuscript is less likely to be reviewed by a well-matched expert.
I realize that the decision to charge such excessive amounts was not yours personally and that this makes your life difficult too, as you have to ask more and more potential reviewers. Nonetheless, I have to follow what I believe to be right.
Kind regards,
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