The Projekt Deal Journal Fades
A journal birthed by the first TA contract is looking like a failure
In January 2019, Projekt Deal was signed to much fanfare. Part of the agreement called for Wiley to launch an OA journal described as “premier” and “top-tier” covering a broad swath of biological and natural sciences. Named Natural Sciences — which sounds like a fake journal in a forensics lab on a crime show — the journal was delayed many months before finally launching with a few articles, most of them commentaries. Since then, it has barely squeaked, publishing a few articles infrequently, unable to maintain a quarterly publication schedule even in its fourth year.
So much for the “premier interdisciplinary open science journal that publishes top-tier research from the global community” promised in its manifesto.
Through its October 2024 issue, Natural Sciences has published: