Paul B Rainey, Kenneth N Timmis, Paul A Williams, Zeynep Ceren Karahan, Purificación López-García, Max Chavarria, Chris Greening, Karen Steward, Cristina Silva Pereira, Rafael Giraldo, Willy Verstraete, Stipan Jonjić, Juan Luis Ramos, Olga Nunes, Antonio Ventosa, Rachel Armstrong, Angela Sessitsch, Eliora Ron, Hui Wang, Michael E Hochberg, Brandon Berryhill, Bruce R Levin
Scientific publishing is undergoing a systemic breakdown. Thousands of journals now collect article processing charges (APCs)-increasingly paid from public research funds-while providing minimal editorial oversight. This erodes standards, distorts incentives and threatens public trust in science. APC payments to six major publishers exceeded 8 billion dollars between 2019 and 2023, with almost no transparency over how these fees are set or spent. This cannot continue. We propose that public and institutional funds support journals-whether through APCs, subscriptions or bundled agreements-only where they are accredited against a transparent, enforceable quality standard. Implemented in stages and led by funding bodies and learned societies, such accreditation would narrow the space in which predatory journals operate without resorting to blacklists.