Dear Editor,
Thank you for inviting me to review this manuscript.
Unfortunately, I cannot review for Nature journals as long as the new and enormous open-access APC fee is in place. The $11,528 now being charged is significantly above the average APC of the biggest for-profit publishers, estimated as around $2,660 (https://undark.org/2021/01/14/big-science-publisher-is-going-open-access/).
‘$11,528’ is not just a large number. It is one semester of a graduate student’s stipend, a neuroimaging study, funds for 4-6 graduate students to attend a scientific meeting. These charges take away money, often from government grants, that would otherwise be spent in important ways - for trainees and for science more broadly.
The ‘Editorial Assessment Charge’ piloted in some Nature journals is also a worrying development. Charging more than $2,000 upon submission is not only excessive, but adds barriers where none should exist.