CPHN

What will happen to my paper currently under review?

The Editors will offer to continue to process all papers in the system while Taylor & Francis appoint a new editorial team. If you want your paper to be published in Critical Public Health, there should be no problem: your paper will be dealt with as normal.

CPH was ‘my’ journal for critical work: where should I submit to now?

We hope you will support the new journal, the Journal of Critical Public Health (JCPH). JCPH is hosted by the University of Calgary and is owned and published by the UK-based CPHN. This should now be up and running, supported by 44 members of the ex-CPH editorial board, with an aim of publishing its first content in around year.

How will the new journal be funded?

JCPH has no funding at present: it has been set up and will run initially with volunteer labour from members of the existing Editorial Board and colleagues, pro-bono admin help, and small donations. We will be offering diamond open access – that is, there will be no fees to publish in the journal, and no costs to read it. This may not be sustainable longer term: there are costs to publishing, and the consultation (see below) will include possible funding models.

Why didn’t you just move CPH to another publisher and keep the name?

Taylor & Francis ‘own’ the journal, in the sense that they have registered the ISSN, and have copyright over past (non open-access) content. This is not the same situation as where (for instance) a scholarly society ‘owns’ a journal and contracts with a publisher to publish it. Although they do not ‘own’ the name Critical Public Health (it is not trademarked), so we could keep it (there are a number of duplicate journal names), this would be confusing for authors and readers.

How have you consulted with the wider community on this decision?

This decision was taken after considerable discussion at editorial board meetings, and in small group/one to one discussions with all members of the Editorial Board. This Board consists of 45 academics from universities across Europe, the Americas, Australasia, Middle East and Africa. They represent scholars across a range of career stages, disciplines and sectors, and are active public health practitioners and researchers. The editorial team have also heard views directly from authors and reviewers as they have commented on the shortcomings of current commercial publishing models, and on social media in response to an editorial we wrote in 2021.

How will you consult on what comes next?

However, we are aware that this Board is a relatively small group, and that we have not had a chance to open up wider discussion. Over the coming year, there will be opportunities to consult more widely on what kind of a journal would serve the community best in the future, in the context of rapidly changing modes of scholarly communication. The Critical Public Health Network (CPHN) will run events – do sign up to the CPHN jiscmail list if you haven’t already here.

Should the new journal be ‘owned’ by a scholarly society to protect it in future?

Yes. The Critical Public Health Network is currently a Scholarly Society, with a committee, and a large jiscmail mailing list, which forms an informal ‘membership’. We are in the process of formalising this as a membership organisation, with a firmer democratic footing, through annual meetings and

 

mechanisms for electing committee members and so on. Membership fees may be a way of providing some funding for the new journal.

What is the evidence that the journal will be successful?

Many other journal boards have made the same move over recent years, and in general, both the ‘new’ journal, and the commercially-owned titles appear to do well. However, there will be a lead in time before we build up citations, an impact factor and broader recognition.

How can I help and get involved?

Send your best work to Journal of Critical Public Health, review for us, sign up to the CPHN jiscmail list, and when the call comes, join the CPH Network! We’re hoping our first Annual Meeting will be June 2024, and we hope to see you there and at other events to be organised to consult on next steps.