Science for the Facebook generation: AIP Advances. The American Institute of Physics publish a set of impactful journals directly in my field of interest: Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Chemical Physics and Journal of Applied Physics. Their new Advances journal is taking a bold leap into the unknown:
“AIP Advances is a publication funded via an author-pays model. Authors publishing manuscripts in AIP Advances retain copyright and grant the publisher a license to publish under a Creative Commons agreement. The pre-publication peer review process focuses on whether the manuscript is technically correct and original. Concepts of ‘timeliness’, ‘significance’, or ‘importance’ are evaluated by the community post publication through the implementation of web 2.0 commenting and ranking tools.”
What this seems to suggest is a “light touch” initial peer review and then your manuscript is let out to the wolves that are the public at large. Will the ranking system include a Youtube style “Thumbs Up” or a Facebook style “Like”? It will be interesting to see how formal (and moderated) the comments section will be or if it will descend into highbrow trash talk. Will you be able to revise your manuscript if significant and valid comments or suggestions are made? No doubt, the format will evolve with experience.
I look forward to having some strong results to publish there, something appropriately controversial of course.