Dear colleagues,

now that we're locked out of our libraries, it's clear how important the Internet has become for accessing literature. But even without Corona it's obvious that online publications are becoming increasingly important. Unfortunately, most publishers still sell our papers and books at unjustifiably high prices, and for Open Access publications, they impose high fees on the authors.

Many of us have become very unhappy with profiteering and restricted access, and that's why we've started the Initiative for Fair Open Access Publishing in South Asian Studies (FOASAS). We'd like to present to you its first outcome: “The 2020 Manifesto for Fair Open Access Publishing in South Asian Studies.”

In order to promote FOA, we ourselves – the members of the research community – should take action. We invite everybody to read the manifesto and, if you agree, to sign it. You find the text attached and online on foasas.org; if you want to sign, please send your name and affiliation to contact@foasas.org. Of course, we also invite everybody on the list to share their thoughts and experiences, or to report on how they have implemented FOA already.

It is our great hope that the initiative will raise awareness for forward-looking ways of publishing.

--
Dr. Vitus Angermeier
University of Vienna
Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies
Spitalgasse 2.2.1, A-1090 Wien, Austria