Become a Library Shareholder and Bring the Benefits of Shareholding to Your Academic Community

To further its transformative impact, JAFSCD became open access — freely available, worldwide, in 2018. Our model for open access is familiar to those involved with food systems, based on community supported agriculture. We are the world's first community-supported journal.

In this model, instead of the usual subscription base, allied academic, research, extension and outreach libraries, programs, foundations, and national nonprofit organizations purchase “shares” annually and join the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium.

Shares support an unusual range of services provided by JAFSCD staff, associate editors, and volunteers, including a consulting editor program for authors whose native language is not English, and an author mentor program to assist any authors with limited experience in scholarly writing. Libraries at HBCUs, Tribal Colleges, and Hispanic-serving Institutions are invited to become member libraries at no cost.

Download our information sheet for prospective library shareholders

Ready now? Become a LIBRARY SHAREHOLDER

Benefits to Libraries

● The JAFSCD Article Publishing Charge (APC) is automatically waived for authors affiliated with shareholding libraries — a savings of US$750

● Authors are encouraged to submit their published papers in their institutional repository

● Content is listed in and metadata deposited with the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

● No reprint permissions or payments

● Open access with no embargo

● Creative Commons licensing (CC BY 4.0)

● No individual subscriptions

● Altmetric provides metrics of social media impact

Library Shares are based on the number of full-time equivalent students attending the institution (2025 rates in US$; effective Sept. 1, 2024):