Join the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium

To further its transformative impact, JAFSCD became open access — freely available worldwide on January 1, 2018. We modeled our open access campaign on a model familiar to those involved with food systems—community supported agriculture—to become the world's first community-supported journal.

Ongoing funding to support open access comes from the annual contributions from members of our JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium, our five partners, and support from libraries. 

Become an ORGANIZATIONAL SHAREHOLDER (for university programs and departments, nonprofits, foundations, and good food companies)

Become a LIBRARY SHAREHOLDER or learn more

Become an INDIVIDUAL SHAREHOLDER

Open Access Benefits the Good Food Movement

We ask allied programs, organizations, groups, and other entities around the world to purchase shares annually, joining the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium. We have developed the community-supported journal publishing model in response to the growing need for affordable and equitable research-based information in support of the good food movement. The benefits to shareholding member groups are outlined below. 

Purchasing a share increases the discoverability and use of JAFSCD content and supports innovative activities that only JAFSCD offers to scholars and practitioners in the food movement, including:

• Creating an outreach and impact program, increasing our social media presence and sending out press releases for each paper to wire services, green alternative media, and food and farming listservs.
• Reaching out to scholars and practitioners working in communities of need to encourage them to use JAFSCD content and consider publishing with JAFSCD.
• Bolstering our outreach to HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribal colleges and universities to encourage use of and publishing with JAFSCD.
• Developing an author mentor program for new scholars and nonacademic authors to maximize their chances of having a paper accepted for publication.
• Supporting our open access publishing platform hosted by the Public Knowledge Project, which increases JAFSCD's discoverability through Google Scholar and other sources.
• Purchasing an annual subscription to Altmetric to measure JAFSCD's reach into communities of need via social media such as tweets, blogs, mentions, downloads, etc.
• Expanding our Consulting Editor Program that assists non-native English speaking authors.
• Conducting an annual survey of our authors and nonprofit stakeholders to gather stories on how JAFSCD is assisting in their work.

Direct Benefits of Becoming a Shareholder:

1. Waiver of JAFSCD's Article Publishing Charge (APC): The APC of US$750 is waived for all authors affiliated with the shareholding program, including all faculty, staff, and students of the entire institution. (The waiver is applied automatically—there's no need to apply or provide information.)
2. Membership in the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium, which provides input on editorial policy and topics for special issues, and whose members complete an annual survey on the content and impact of JAFSCD.
3. Free listing in the Sustainable Food Systems Sourcebook, an online directory of academic programs, nonprofit groups, funders, and other resources related to food systems. The Sourcebook will increase the visibility of your program among students and practitioners. Listings can be updated throughout the year.
4. Free advertising. Shareholders can advertise for free on the JAFSCD website, including promoting a publication, book, job opening, or technology.
5. Opportunity to publish a commentary on food systems development research, policy, or practice in JAFSCD (one annually per consortium shareholder).
6. Shareholder acknowledgment on each issue's tables of contents (both online and in PDF) and throughout the JAFSCD website.

Creating a Diverse Shareholder Consortium with Broad Geographic Representation

We aspire to have a Shareholder Consortium that is culturally diverse and international, with at least one shareholding entity from each U.S. state and territory and Canadian province and territory. We encourage shareholders to represent their states or provinces in the consortium to the extent they are able, serving as a liaison or conduit for all their good food and farming organizations and research initiatives. This will give the consortium broad geographic representation and also serve as a networking and sharing opportunity at this broad level.

If resources are limited in a state or province, several entities can consider teaming up on a group share. They then also team up to represent their state or province's good food and farming work.

Shareholder Categories	Examples	Suggested Annual Share Contribution*
Any program that largely serves people of color and/or underserved communities	HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, or Indigenous and Tribal colleges and universities	$0
State Nonprofit	501(c)(3) with state purview	$500
Cooperative Extension Program	Standalone outreach program affiliated with the APLU**	$500
Good Food Company	For-profit food or agriculture business or consulting practice	$500–$1,000
National Nonprofit	501(c)(3) with national purview	$1,000
University or College-based Program	Program, department, institute, research center, integrated research and extension/outreach program	$1,500
Foundation		$2,500–$5,000

* We will not limit participation to entities based on their ability to purchase a share. Prospective Consortium members can pay any amount they deem fair and find affordable.

** Association of Public and Land-grant Universities