SciPost logo

About SciPost

SciPost is a complete scientific publication portal managed by the SciPost Foundation.

It is purely online-based, and offers freely, openly, globally and perpetually accessible science.

Being managed by professional scientists, and making use of editor-solicited and contributed reviews, its Journals aim at the highest achievable standards of refereeing.

Our business model offers an affordable and equitable alternative to other systems.

Frequently asked questions


Guiding principles

  • Two-way open access
    Publicly-funded science should be openly accessible to scientists and the general public, perpetually, worldwide. Conversely, scientists should not have to pay publishing charges to disseminate the fruits of their research efforts.
  • Non-profit
    Academics do not perform research for profit, and by extension the publication of their scientific results should not involve commercial profit-making.
  • By Professionals
    Scientists should carry the final responsibility for all stages in the scientific publishing process.
  • Peer-witnessed refereeing
    Scientific publications should undergo the strictest possible peer refereeing process, witnessed by the community instead of hidden behind closed doors.
  • Accountable and credited refereeing
    Peer refereeing should be accountable, and should be incentivized by being credited.
  • Post-publication evaluation
    Peer evaluation does not stop at the moment of publication.

The first principle is reflected in the fact that all publications and related content on SciPost.org are accessible to anybody with an internet connection. Moreover, publishing in SciPost entails no author charges.

The second principle is reflected in SciPost’s not-for-profit status. SciPost is financially backed by national granting agencies, universities, foundations and individuals.

The third principle is implemented by having only active scientists involved in SciPost’s decision-making and editorial processes.

The fourth and fifth principles are implemented using SciPost’s maximally stringent peer-witnessed refereeing process.

The sixth principle is implemented in the form of Commentary Pages associated to publications. These can either be SciPost Publications, or papers published elsewhere.

As an organization, and for all its Journals, SciPost follows the Genuine Open Access Principles:

[CO] Community Ownership The Journal has a transparent community-anchored ownership structure, and is controlled by and responsive to the scholarly community.
[OI] Open Infrastructure The infrastructure for operating the Journal belongs to, and is open sourced to the community. The entire technological stack and all operating protocols are documented and made easily transferable between community owners.
[CA] Copyright to authors Authors of articles in the Journal retain copyright. The Journal assists authors in protecting their rights in case of infringement.
[OA] Open Access All articles are published open access and an explicit open access licence is used which is preferably Approved for Free Cultural Works.
[OC] Open Citations The Journal makes its citation metadata openly accessibly by actively participating in the Initiative for Open Citations.
[FF] Fee Free Submission, peer evaluation and publication are not conditional in any way on the payment of a fee from authors or their employing institution, or on membership of an institution or society.
[NP] Non Profit The Journal publisher's operations are entirely non profit.
[OF] Open Finances The Journal's finances are openly published and available for public scrutiny.
[AE] Academic Editing The editorial processes of the Journal are run by the community, and all editorial decisions are taken by active professional scientists, using exclusively academic scholarship-based criteria.

These principles are an extension and sharpening up of the Fair Open Access Principles, the most important difference being the insistence on the non profit business model.


The SciPost Team

  • Dr Sergio Enrique Tapias Arze
    • Executive Director
  • Dr Francesca Ferrari
    • Editorial Admin
  • Lieuwe Bakker
    • Editorial Admin
  • George Katsikas
    • Developer
  • Theophanes Karydas
    • Publishing Officer
  • Kyros Megalos Adam
    • Production Supervisor

Advisory Board

Astronomy
Chemistry
Mathematics
Migration Politics
  • Prof. Christina Boswell
    Dean of Research, College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
    (U. of Edinburgh)
  • Prof. Steven Vertovec
    Founding Director,
    Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
Physics

Editorial Colleges

Please visit our Editorial Colleges page to view the list of our current Editorial Fellows in all our fields of activity.