Note

This is a draft of the text that will appear on the journal website. To propose and discuss changes, please join the online forum.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does “diamond open access” mean?

Diamond open access is a publishing model where there are no fees for authors and no fees to access the published content. The operational costs of such journals are usually paid by sources that include grants, donations and in-kind contributions. Other open access publishing models (such as Gold, Green, Hybrid, and Subscribe to Open) cover operational costs through a combination of article processing charges, individual subscriptions, and institutional subscriptions.

Who publishes the journal?

The journal is owned by the Planetary Research Cooperative, which is a non-profit association registered in France whose mission is to support the dissemination of scientific research in the field of planetary science. The board of directors of the association oversees all non-editorial functions of the journal and is responsible for appointing the journal’s editor-in-chief and editors. The journal is published in cooperation with, and is hosted by, the Open Publishing Services (OPUS) at the Université Paris Cité.

How much does it cost to run the journal?

Planetary Research is run as a service for the planetary science community, and by design we do not make a profit. Costs are kept to a minimum by having a low bureaucratic overhead, by using free open-source software solutions for managing journal activities, and by relying on a volunteer editorial staff. The major cost of the journal is related to copyediting and production services that are outsourced, which include the conversion of author formatted files into final publication HTML and PDF formats. These services cost about 100 € per article, which is more than an order of magnitude less than what any other planetary science journal charges. The annual operating costs of the journal are expected be about 10,000 € during the journal’s first year and to later reach about 30,000 € per year.

Who pays the journal’s costs?

At the present time, Planetary Research is funded through a combination of government and university grants, donations from researchers, and in-kind contributions from research institutions.

What is the long-term strategy for funding the journal?

The Planetary Research Cooperative intends to create a consortium of national space agencies and planetary science funding organisms that will commit to assuring the operational costs of the journal. If 10 partners join such a consortium, it would only be necessary for each to contribute about 3000 € per year. To guard against unforeseen rises in publication costs or a drop in institutional funding, the journal aims to build a cash reserve that is the equivalent of operational costs for two years.

Will the journal be indexed by Web of Science and Scopus?

The journal will apply to be indexed in Clarivate’s Web of Science Core Collection and in Elsevier’s Scopus database by the end of 2026. Once accepted, all previously published journal content will be indexed.

Will the journal have an impact factor?

Journal Impact Factors are published exclusively by Clarivate, and the impact factor is computed automatically when two full years of citation data exist. As outlined by the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), a journal’s impact factor should not be used as a metric for funding, appointment, or promotion considerations.