PalArch Goes Open Access

Postings have been slow lately, as we enter the busy field season. I have a few comments to respond to, and a few posts in the works. For now, I wanted to point out that the PalArch family of journals has now gone completely open access. Of particular interest for readers of this blog is the PalArch Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Congratulations to the journal staff on making this a reality!

Re-posted from a message to the VRTPALEO listserv by Brian Beatty:

Greetings!
The PalArch Foundation is happy to announce that our website (www.palarch.nl) has been revised and updated. The PalArch Foundation supports three peer-reviewed, online journals focusing on Vertebrate Palaeontology, Archaeology of Northwest Europe, and Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptlogy.

These new revisions includes *RSS feeds*, as well as sections for *comments* with each paper, much like one has in a blog format. We hope this will encourage more open discussions of work and lead to collaborations and more rapid developments in our fields of interest.

Though we are still updating some texts and uploading the archive of book reviews, we have FINALLY managed to get the support and organization to have not only the site revised and easier to use, but also the *entire archive of papers available OPEN ACCESS*. PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology can be accessed here: http://www.palarch.nl/category/vertebrate_palaeontology/

More importantly, we have revised the operational plan of the journals to allow us to maximize the utility of being an online journal. That is, instead of publishing issues on a periodical basis, *papers will be published as soon as they are accepted, formatted, and finally approved*. This way we can more rapidly share new information, eliminating much of the logistical delays of publishing and retaining only the delays of critical, thorough peer review.

We hope you will consider submitting papers to PalArch, and take advantage of the open access, archive, and commenting features. PalArch is an entirely volunteer-run journal and a non-profit run by people wanting to get good science published without the financial and political hassles that can occur, and we hope you will participate.