SAGE and Hindawi announce landmark open access agreement

Apologies for cross-posting (FROM SSP-list) (excerpt)

SAGE AND HINDAWI ANNOUNCE LANDMARK OPEN ACCESS AGREEMENT

November 20, 2007 - SAGE and the Hindawi Publishing Corporation have
today entered into an agreement to jointly launch and publish a suite of
fully Open Access (OA) journals.

This is a bold strategic partnership that places SAGE as the largest
academic publisher to develop a collection of Gold Open Access journals,
marking the company's continued investment in widening access to
important scholarly research. SAGE is the world's fifth largest journal
publisher, with over 485 journals in the humanities, social sciences,
science, technology, and medicine.

The initiative further strengthens Hindawi's leadership in developing a
strong portfolio of Open Access journals. Hindawi currently publishes
more than 100 Open Access journals covering a wide range of subjects in
science, technology, and medicine.

The partnership will see equal ownership between the two organizations.
SAGE will have sole responsibility for the editorial development,
marketing, and promotion of the new journals while Hindawi will provide
the technology and expertise needed to run the publication process from
the point of submission, through the peer-review process, to the point
of final publication. Under the model, all SAGE-Hindawi journal articles
will be made freely available online via the Hindawi platform, funded by
author charges.

"SAGE is committed to maintaining innovative publishing models for the
benefit of the academic community, in keeping with our vision to be the
natural home for authors, editors and societies," commented Blaise
Simqu, CEO, SAGE. He continued, "SAGE is in a unique position as a
growing STM publisher, allowing us to explore and actively experiment
without posing a threat to our existing business models.

"Our position as a leading independent publisher enables us to respond
to the changing needs of our authors, editors and societies, helping
them to reach broader communities, and maximise the impact of their
work. Hindawi is an ideal partner for SAGE, being able to offer a highly
effective publishing system that will allow us to focus on our
longstanding reputation for high quality marketing and editorial
expertise, while offering a viable option for disseminating open,
unrestricted access to research."

"We are delighted to be working with SAGE on this joint initiative,"
said Ahmed Hindawi, CEO of Hindawi Publishing Corporation. "Hindawi
currently has a very successful Open Access journal collection, which is
quite solid both academically and financially, and SAGE's strong market
presence and expertise will enable us to further expand our Open Access
offerings to the scientific communities we serve."