---
author:
- contributor_roles: []
  family: van 't Veer
  given: Anna
- contributor_roles: []
  family: van Leeuwen
  given: Thed
- contributor_roles: []
  family: Rudmann
  given: Dan
- contributor_roles: []
  family: Waaijers
  given: Leo
- affiliation:
  - id: https://ror.org/027bh9e22
    name: Leiden University
  contributor_roles: []
  family: Waltman
  given: Ludo
  url: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8249-1752
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  - name: Leiden Madtrics
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  description: Leiden Madtrics
  doi: https://doi.org/10.59350/leidenmadtrics
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  title: Leiden Madtrics
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container: Leiden Madtrics
date: '2023-05-25T00:00:00+00:00'
date_updated: '2025-12-05T08:30:15+00:00'
guid: https://www.leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/smart-alone-brilliant-together
identifier: https://doi.org/10.59350/4akjw-tf516
issn: null
lang: en
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
rid: 7qa38-7ah31
rights: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
summary: Imagine academic publishing that is fast, transparent, and free. Is that
  a pipe dream or something within reach? We already have preprint publishing (fast),
  open peer review (transparent), and diamond/overlay journals (free). If we could
  connect these disparate initiatives, would that make our dream come true? And how
  could this best be done? These are questions that are currently being discussed
  by us and others at Leiden University.
title: '"Smart alone, brilliant together"'
url: https://www.leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/smart-alone-brilliant-together
version: v1
---

Imagine academic publishing that is fast, transparent, and free. Is that
a pipe dream or something within reach? We already have preprint
publishing (fast), open peer review (transparent), and diamond/overlay
journals (free). If we could connect these disparate initiatives, would
that make our dream come true? And how could this best be done? These
are questions that are currently being discussed by us and others at
Leiden University.

While we are proud that Leiden is the Dutch champion when it comes to
preprint publishing, we realize that we cannot make this journey alone.
Colleagues at other Dutch universities also bring invaluable expertise.
Wageningen University, for instance, is the leading Dutch university in
terms of its contribution to Peer Community In, and Radboud University
is at the forefront of the national Openjournals initiative (*the
assertions in this paragraph are based on some elementary observations.
See*
[*here*](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7961825){aria-label="Link attachment"
target="_blank"}). Open Science Communities are found in every Dutch
university, and these communities play a crucial role in discussing new
recognition and reward systems in relation to open science.

For researchers, this plethora of new publishing options is a *mer à
boire*. Where to start? What to do next? Is it safe? What does my funder
or manager require? In the meantime, the classical publishers offer
one-stop shopping: simply submit your article to our journal and we will
take care of the rest. That this route is neither fast, transparent nor
cheap is then often accepted, though reluctantly.

But what if some Dutch universities would combine their efforts? We
might create a publishing avenue, from preprint publishing to open peer
review to dissemination via a diamond or overlay journal, facilitating
further dialogue and revised versions. Persistent identifiers are the
signposts along this road. Funders could recognize everyone\'s
contribution in this process, from author to peer reviewer to publisher.
It would make predatory publishing impracticable and seriously hinder
paper mills.

If this perspective inspires you, please contact [Anna van \'t
Veer](mailto:a.e.van.t.veer@fsw.leidenuniv.nl){target="_blank"}, chair
of the Dutch Network of [Open Science
Communities](https://www.osc-nl.com){target="_blank"}: OSC-NL. At Leiden
University [some initial
discussions](https://researchsoftware.pubpub.org/pub/cooppub/release/3){target="_blank"}
have already started, and in the spirit of \"smart alone, brilliant
together\" we would love to work with colleagues elsewhere in the
Netherlands to broaden this approach to the national level.

[*The title of this blog post is based on the slogan \"[Smart alone,
brilliant
together\"](https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.crossref.org%2Fblog%2Fsmart-alone-brilliant-together.-community-reigns-at-crossref-live16%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cleidenmadtrics%40CWTS.leidenuniv.nl%7Cf4d3f04121d44f8e86af08db5c642bc7%7Cca2a7f76dbd74ec091086b3d524fb7c8%7C0%7C0%7C638205357516793348%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=HX%2FXx8pas7AOqdDDxXbcEmtJP%2FpWRSeUTwm%2BFJEqo74%3D&reserved=0 "Original URL:https://www.crossref.org/blog/smart-alone-brilliant-together.-community-reigns-at-crossref-live16/Click to follow link."){target="_blank"}found
on the Crossref website.\
\
Photo by [Kenrick
Mills](https://unsplash.com/@kenrickmills?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)
on
[Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/nn6nhhhf84M?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText).*]{.caption}