Reaching for the stars

Former astrophysicist Ian Mulvany has recently moved from Mendeley to take on the role of head of technology at the new open-access journal eLife. He talks about the vision for the funder-funded venture and the economics of open access

Why did you join eLife?

eLife was a very interesting opportunity. I’ve always worked on products for libraries or end users. This gives an insight into what funders want. We’re an independent organisation but funded exclusively by funders. It works in a similar way to the way that start-ups work with venture-capital firms. We’ve been set up as a non-profit, but there is still a requirement for return on investment so it is important for us to become self sustainable.

Read the full article here.