For immediate release

September 8, 2020

Duke University Press Converts Flagship Journal Demography to Open Access

DURHAM, NC — Demography, the flagship journal of the Population Association of America (PAA), will become open access in 2021 as it joins the Duke University Press journals publishing program.

“PAA’s mission is to promote and support high-quality population research and converting Demography to a platinum open-access journal dovetails perfectly with that mission. We are excited to work with Duke University Press on this new model that maintains Demography’s position as the top journal in our field, is fiscally sound for our organization, and more broadly shares top-notch demographic research,” said PAA President Dr. Eileen Crimmins.

Since its founding in 1964, Demography has mirrored the vitality, diversity, high intellectual standard, and wide impact of population studies. Published bimonthly, the journal presents high-quality original research by scholars in a wide range of disciplines, encompassing a variety of methodological approaches to population research. It maintains a global geographic focus and a broad temporal scope. Demography is the most cited journal in its field and reaches the membership of one of the largest professional demographic associations in the world.

"In moving Demography from a traditional paid subscription model to open access, we're thrilled that the worldwide community of population researchers will have access to its content, especially at this moment when access to reliable, peer-reviewed information is critically important,” said Dean Smith, Director of Duke University Press.

"Duke University supports open access and is committed to bringing scholarship to a wide community of researchers,” said Sally Kornbluth, Duke University Provost and Jo Rae Wright University Professor. “Through the open publication of Demography, Duke University Press is advancing the University’s mission to make intellectual discoveries and debates available to as broad a public as possible.”

Funding Model and Call for Support

Demography’s platinum open-access funding model relies entirely on financial support from libraries and research centers. “The conversion of Demography is a significant opportunity for the library community to join with other stakeholders in support of sustainable, open-access, university-based publishing,” said Celeste Feather, Senior Director of Content and Scholarly Communication Initiatives at LYRASIS, a nonprofit membership organization serving libraries, museums, and archives, which will facilitate contributions to the journal.

Libraries, research centers, and other organizations can make a concrete choice to support open-access content at any of the following levels:

Level 1: $4,000 and up

Level 2: $2,000 to $3,999

Level 3: $1,000 to $1,999

Level 4: $500 to $999

Please contact libraryrelations@dukeupress.edu or lsp@lyrasis.org if your institution would like to contribute. Visit dukeupress.edu/demography-open-access for more information.

About

Duke University Press is a nonprofit scholarly publisher with a focus on the humanities, the social sciences, and mathematics. The Press publishes approximately 140 books annually and more than 50 journals, as well as offering several electronic collections and open-access publishing initiatives.

The Population Association of America (PAA) is a nonprofit, scientific, professional organization established to promote and support high-quality population research. PAA members include demographers, sociologists, economists, public health professionals, and other individuals interested in research and education in the population field.

LYRASIS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization whose mission is to support enduring access to the world’s shared academic, scientific, and cultural heritage through leadership in open technologies, content services, digital solutions, and collaboration with archives, libraries, museums, and knowledge communities worldwide.

For more information, contact:

Robert Dilworth

Journals Director

journalsdirector@dukeupress.edu

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