Transformative Journals: analysis from the 2022 reports

June 21, 2023

Introduction

The Transformative Journal (TJ) model was one of the strategies cOAlition S developed to help subscription publishers transition to full and immediate Open Access (OA) in a defined timeframe. This report looks at the data provided by the participating publishers for the calendar year 2022[1].

2022 data: executive summary

A key element of the TJ model is that participating journals must share data showing the OA penetration rate and whether they have met their agreed targets. Specifically, TJ titles are required to demonstrate an annual increase in the proportion of OA research content of at least 5% points in absolute terms and at least 15% in relative terms, year-on-year. Journals in the programme also agree to flip to full OA when 75% of the research content is published in this way.

Analysis of the 2022 data shows that of the 2326 titles in the TJ programme:

26 titles (1%) flipped to full OA from 1^st January 2023
695 titles (30%) met or exceeded their OA growth targets and remain in the TJ programme
1589 titles (68%) failed to meet their OA growth targets and will be removed from the TJ programme.
16 other titles (1%) were removed from the programme for other reasons. Such reasons include the publisher no longer holding that title, having ceased publication of a title, among others.

Figure 1: Summary of the 2022 TJ data

Methodology

All TJ publishers were provided with a reporting template to indicate how many research articles they published in 2022, and how many were published as OA. Using previously publisher-supplied data from 2021, the template determined whether the 2022 growth target had been met and, if so, what the new OA penetration target is for 2023. The template also collected data on citations and downloads to show how articles published OA compared with articles (in the same title) published behind a paywall.

In analysing the reports, all titles were assigned a status of one of four mutually exclusive types:

Journal has already flipped to full OA from 1^st January 2023 (and thus will no longer be considered as a TJ)
Journal has met the OA growth targets – and will continue as a TJ in 2023
Journal has not met the TJ growth targets and will be removed from the TJ programme
Other: this includes journals which have ceased publication, moved to another publisher or the publisher has decided to withdraw from the TJ programme.

Note that if a publisher indicated that they planned to flip some titles to full OA in 2024, this is recorded below. However, this doesn’t affect its TJ status. For example, if a title missed its 2022 target, it will still be classified as being withdrawn from the programme, even if the journal is planning to flip to full OA in 2024.

Analysis

Of the 16 TJ publishers, seven (ASTMH, Company of Biologists, Karger, London Geological Society, Rockefeller University Press (RUP), The Royal Society and Wageningen Academic) met or exceeded all their 2022 TJ targets. And though the number of TJ titles published by these seven publishers is relatively small (26 titles), it is interesting to note that, on average, learned society publishers seem to be more successful in meeting TJ targets than some of their commercial counterparts.

Of the publishers with larger TJ portfolios it is good to see that 94% of the BMJ titles (32 journals) and 62% of Cambridge University Press (CUP) titles (240 journals), met or exceeded their growth targets.

Cognisant that the overarching aim of the programme is to encourage journals to flip to full OA (or at least the research content they publish), it was encouraging to see that 75% of Oxford University Press (OUP) TJ titles (3 out of 4) had already flipped, as had 11 titles in the Springer Nature portfolio. In line with CUP’s stated ambition that the “vast majority of its research papers to be published OA by 2025”, the data also shows that, in addition to five flips to OA in 2023, a further 40 titles will flip from 1^st January 2024.

Comparing the 2022 OA penetration rates with those provided in 2021 (see Figure 2) it is evident that the transition to OA has begun. For example, in 2021, there were 851 TJ titles which reported an OA penetration rate of 10% or less; in 2022, the number of TJ titles with this penetration rate had fallen to 578.

Figure 2: Comparing TJ OA penetration rates 2021 v 2021

However, despite these positive developments, it is clearly disappointing that over two thirds (68%) of the journals in the TJ programme failed to meet their OA growth targets. And, as made clear last year, titles which do not meet their targets will be removed from the TJ programme. As such, 1589 titles will lose their TJ status at the end of 2023.

Looking at the performance of individual publishers, the data shows that some 77% (1329) of titles published by Springer Nature – by far the largest publisher in the programme with some 1721 TJ titles – failed to meet their TJ targets. For Elsevier and the America Chemical Society (ACS) the figures were 63% (115 titles) and 56% (36 titles), respectively. Figure 3, provides a summary of all the data provided by all participating publishers.

Figure 3: TJ summary, by publisher

The fact that so many titles were unable to meet their OA growth targets suggests that for some publishers, the transition to full and immediate open access is unlikely to happen in a reasonable timeframe. As cOAlition S was seeking to encourage a time-limited transition, the decision to terminate this programme at the end of 2024 appears well-founded.

One of the conditions that a publisher agrees to when applying for cOAlition S TJ status is that when the OA penetration rate meets or exceeds 75% of the published research content, the journal will flip to full OA. As the data shows, relatively few titles are anywhere near this threshold: indeed, 25% of all TJs had an OA penetration rate of 10% or less in 2022 (see Figure 2).

It is especially discouraging to note that there are at least six titles, published by Springer Nature, which have been unilaterally withdrawn from the TJ programme, despite meeting this 75% OA penetration rate threshold.

For example, the 100% of the articles published in the journal European Journal for Security Research were published OA in 2022; for the International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law the OA penetration rate was 95%. Even ignoring the question as to what content subscribers are still paying for, if a title is not prepared to flip at these levels of OA, the only logical conclusion is that they will never flip to full OA.

Download / citation data and price transparency

As noted previously, the data also shows that, on average, OA content is downloaded more often than subscription content in the same journal. Springer Nature, for example, report that in 2022 OA articles published in TJs received, on average, 1.4 times more usage than subscription articles in the same journals.

The citation data is less clear cut. For example, the difference in the average number of citations made to articles published OA in Elsevier TJs, compared to articles in the same journals which are paywalled, is minimal: an average of 1.3 citations (OA articles) compared to 1.2 citations (for paywalled articles).

Participating publishers are also required to show how subscription prices are impacted as a result of some content being published OA. Expressed simply, if the volume of published content remains static year-on-year, then as the proportion of OA content increases, we should expect to see a decrease in the price of subscriptions. The Royal Society, for example, show how the subscription price for the journal Biology Letters fell by 4.74% (even after inflation of 4.1% has been added) because of the increase in the proportion of OA content.

In last year’s TJ report, we called on all TJ publishers to follow the lead of the Royal Society and show, at the journal level, how the availability of OA content has impacted on the subscription price. Unfortunately, many publishers – including ACS, Elsevier and Springer Nature have continued to provide more generic statements, making it impossible for subscribers to verify that they are not actually paying for OA content.

Annex A, below, provides information about each participating TJ publisher.

The complete data set on which the analysis was based on can be downloaded here.

Annex A: 2022 TJ data

American Chemical Society (ACS)

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 44%
TJ titles that missed 2022 OA growth targets and will lose TJ status: 56%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)
Notes: As ACS joined the programme on 1st April 2022, the OA growth targets have been adjusted to 75% (i.e. rather than 5% growth, each title needs to grow by at least 3.75%)

American Society for Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH)

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 100%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing: not provided
Data (source)
Notes: Download and citation data not provided.

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

TJ titles that flipped to full OA from 1/1/2023: 2%
TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 56%
TJ titles that missed 2022 OA growth targets and will lose TJ status: 38%
Other: 2 titles (4%) have been withdrawn from TJ programme by ACM as the journals are closing at the end of 2023
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

BMJ

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 94%
TJ titles that missed 2022 OA growth targets and will lose TJ status: 6%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

Cambridge University Press (CUP)

TJ titles that flipped to full OA from 1/1/2023: 2%
TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 62%
TJ titles that missed 2022 OA growth targets and will lose TJ status: 35%
Other: one journal will cease publication at the end of 2023; two other titles have moved to a different publisher.
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): 40 TJ titles
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

Company of Biologists (CoB)

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 100%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

Elsevier

TJ titles that flipped to full OA from 1/1/2023: 3.3%
TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 33.5%
TJ titles that missed 2022 OA growth targets and will lose TJ status: 63.2%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

Inter-Research

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 25%
TJ titles that missed 2022 OA growth targets and will lose TJ status: 75%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

Karger

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 100%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing: Not provided
Data: Not provided

London Geological Society

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 100%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

Oxford University Press (OUP)

TJ titles that flipped to full OA from 1/1/2023: 75%
TJ titles that missed 2022 OA growth targets and will lose TJ status: 25%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing: Not provided
Data: Not provided

Rockefeller University Press (RUP)

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 100%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

The Royal Society

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 100%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

Springer Nature

TJ titles that flipped to full OA from 1/1/2023: 0.6%
TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 21.5%
TJ titles that missed 2022 OA growth targets and will lose TJ status: 77.2%
Other: 3 titles are no longer published by SN; 8 titles have been withdrawn from the programme
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): 23 TJ titles
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

Wageningen Academic

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 100%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

World Scientific

TJ titles that met 2022 OA growth target: 50%
TJ titles that missed 2022 OA growth targets and will lose TJ status: 50%
Future flips (from 1/1/2024): None indicated
Transparent pricing (source)
Data (source)

[1] Note that five publishers – Canadian Science Publishing, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, EMBO Press, IEEE and Royal Society of Chemistry – only joined the TJ programme in late 2022 and thus have not been required to provide data for this report. They will be required to provide data for the 2023 report.

Frontiers’ first open access publishing agreement in Poland

June 20, 2023

The journal Acta Biochimica Polonica will be published by Frontiers as part of an agreement signed with the Polish Biochemical Society (PTBioch).

Acta Biochimica Polonica will open for submissions with Frontiers in August 2023. The journal will publish its first papers on Frontiers gold open access platform in January 2024.

Marking Frontiers’ first publishing partnership in Poland, the agreement with the Polish Biochemical Society represents a significant milestone for open access publishing in biochemistry in Central and Eastern Europe.

Prof. Adam Szewczyk, president of the Polish Biochemical Society, commented on the agreement saying: “We are delighted to partner with Frontiers and transition Acta Biochimica Polonica to their open access platform. We look forward to the opportunities this partnership presents for sharing new and innovative research in the field of biochemistry.”

Robyn Mugridge, head of publishing partnerships at Frontiers, said: “Frontiers is excited to welcome the Polish Biochemical Society as a publishing partner. We are confident that our collaboration will foster the visibility of research in the field of biochemistry in Poland and beyond.”

Established in 1958, the Polish Biochemical Society is a well-respected promoter and supporter of all aspects of biochemistry research in Poland. Specifically, initiatives like the Society’s annual Jakub K. Parnas Prize, have been instrumental in driving the growth of biochemical research in the country.

PTBioch’s journal Acta Biochimica Polonica, was first launched in 1954. It is a peer-reviewed quarterly journal in English, publishing experimental and review papers in all areas of biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology. Articles cover research in enzymology and metabolism, membranes and bioenergetics, gene structure and expression, and other important fields of biochemistry.

The Polish Biochemical Society joins Frontiers’ growing community of publishing partners in the field of biology and medicine, including the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, the Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Biomedical Science, and other valuable partners.

Polish researchers affiliated with Frontiers’ partner institutions may benefit from financial support in Article Processing Charges (APC).

The American Chemical Society and the Chinese Chemical Society renew partnership agreement

June 20, 2023

The American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS) have renewed a partnership agreement. A signing ceremony was held on June 17 at the 33^rd CCS Congress at the Hongdao International Convention and Exhibition Center in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.

Zhigang Shuai, vice president, CCS, and James Milne, president, ACS Publications, signed the agreement on behalf of the two societies.

ACS and CCS have a shared interest in advancing the chemistry enterprise and its practitioners in identifying solutions to global challenges confronting humanity. As a result, ACS and CCS have renewed their commitment to work together, as well as with other societies, in the following areas:

Supporting the global research community by co-sponsoring conferences and providing mechanisms for disseminating research results.
Providing programming focused on sustainable development and professional development opportunities in safety, innovation and leadership.
Communicating chemistry’s value by partnering on outreach activities.
Fostering connections by promoting events and resources for society memberships, the broader scientific community and the general public.

Activities and events will be guided by the United Nations sustainable development goals.

“ACS is honored to be able to partner with CCS in several ways, including chemistry festivals, education summits, the Pacifichem conference, and the pre-print server ChemRxiv,” says Albert G. Horvath, ACS chief executive officer. “I look forward to working even more closely together in the future on behalf of the global scientific research community.”

This partnership agreement extends series of agreements between ACS and CCS, the first of which was signed on June 20, 2010, during the 27^th CCS Congress.

Thieme launches new open access journal on sustainability and circularity

June 14, 2023

Sustainability & Circularity NOW publishes latest research on benign molecules and materials, closed-loop, waste-free systems, and other actionable solutions to tackle global environmental crises. The new journal is the first open access publication with a multidisciplinary focus on sustainability and circularity in chemistry and beyond. Authors benefit from fast and professional crowd peer-review processes to publish and disseminate their research open access.

This press release is also available at: https://www.thieme.com/en-us/who-we-serve/journalists/new-open-access-journal-sustainability-and-circularity-now

Committed to driving positive change, the thematic concept of Sustainability & Circularity NOW is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). “The new journal empowers researchers, engineers and sustainability advocates in academia, industry and government by publishing their research to discuss and develop actionable solutions to tackle global environmental crises and realize a closed-loop, waste-free industry by 2050”, emphasizes Dr J.C. Slootweg, Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam and Editor in Chief of Sustainability & Circularity NOW.

As of fall 2023, authors can submit papers in research areas such as Circular Design and Economy, Green Manufacturing and Engineering, Biobased and Circular Plastics, Sustainable Industrial Processes and many more. Life cycle assessment studies and case studies to foster public and policy debate will also be reported in this journal. “All these topics are a perfect fit for our vision ‘For better medicine and healthier lives’ – because a sustainable future directly contributes to better environment, better health, and eventually better life. We therefore want to ensure that researchers can publish their important findings as efficiently as possible in the new journal”, says Dr Kathleen Too, Senior Vice President Chemistry at Thieme.

Select Crowd Review allows for a fast and effective review process with a first decision in less than a week from submission. The feedback from experts in the crowd working in various research areas ensures high-quality reviews and visibility in the academic community. Authors interested in publishing articles in Sustainability & Circularity NOW can find all the information they need at: Journal Information – Sustainability & Circularity NOW – Thieme Group

CIHR chooses Digital Science to support discoveries for Canada’s health

June 14, 2023

Digital Science, a technology company serving stakeholders across the research ecosystem, is pleased to announce that the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has chosen Altmetric and Dimensions from Digital Science’s flagship products to support its belief that research has the power to change lives.

CIHR – the Government of Canada’s health research investment agency, which funds world-class research across the country – has signed a single-year deal to utilize Altmetric Explorer for Institutions and Dimensions Analytics (with API), which enables customers to monitor and report on the online activity surrounding research published by an institution, while also benefiting from access to the full Altmetric database.

Using Digital Science’s products and tools, CIHR will be able to monitor the online activity surrounding academic research, including the ability to browse by author, group or department for the institution, benchmark against peer organizations, report on the outcomes of outreach activity, and integrate the insights the data provides into evaluation and review processes at CIHR.

More specifically, Dimensions and Altmetric will enable CIHR to:

Use the API for Dimensions to extract publication and citation metadata of articles funded by the CIHR
Extract the Altmetric score of CIHR funded publications
Search the number of citations from CIHR grantees in international policy documents
Understand Canada’s standing among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations in related health research publications
Extract all publication metadata for a subset of researchers funded by the CIHR.

Cat Williams, Managing Director of Data & Analytics at Digital Science, said: “We’re excited by the opportunity to collaborate with CIHR, and to assist with the implementation of their strategy to build the country’s research capabilities to save more lives in Canada and the rest of the world. We’re looking forward to helping CIHR better understand the impact its support is making through Canadian researchers and research programs.”

ALA Announces Transitions and New Leadership at ACRL

June 14, 2023

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, announces key leadership changes as it progresses towards the beginning of the next fiscal year.

Current executive director, Robert “Jay” Malone, who came to ACRL in September 2021 after previously helming an academic society for over twenty years, will depart ALA on Friday, June 9. During his time at ACRL, Malone supported the repositioning and improved profitability of Choice, a publishing unit of ACRL and worked with ALA’s Development Office to raise the association’s GuideStar (Candid) nonprofit ranking to “platinum,” the reviewer’s highest level.

“The main attraction of the ACRL directorship was the opportunity to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI),” Malone said of his tenure. “So, it was with great satisfaction that I witnessed the addition of EDI to ACRL’s operating strategy, the Plan for Excellence.”

Of the ACRL staff and membership, Malone acknowledges, “I was lucky to work with an excellent staff whose high quality of work remains the best that I have seen in over 20 years of association management. I thought I knew something about academic and research libraries, having spent countless hours in them, but I was soon disabused of that notion. Never during those prior years was I aware of the sheer volume of time and talent that library workers donate to advancing the profession. The spirit of volunteerism and community in ACRL and ALA is unparalleled, and I will forever remain grateful for the many members who devote themselves to a universe of challenges—your efforts make a difference.”

Malone will be succeeded by interim ACRL executive director Allison Payne, who will step into her new leadership role on Monday, June 11. Payne joined ACRL in 2013 and has since served in governance (among other duties) by supporting the work of the ACRL Board of Directors and ACRL Budget and Finance Committee. Prior to her new appointment, Payne served as ACRL Program Manager for Strategic Initiatives, leading equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives and helping shepherd various projects—including the creation of the joint ALA/ACRL/ARL/PLA Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity: A Framework and the assessment and redevelopment of the ACRL Diversity Alliance program.

In 2022, Payne was selected as a participant for the Path to Leadership program, a joint effort sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), with the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) and the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA). Before coming to ACRL, she worked at Kraft Foods Global Research and Development Library and the University of Iowa Libraries’ Preservation Department. As an AmeriCorps member, Allison tutored incarcerated youth and supported adult literacy centers in the greater Chicago area. Since 2019, Allison has been a volunteer team captain for the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition’s annual Together in Teal fundraiser. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Bachelor of Arts in English, with a minor in Psychology, from the University of Iowa.

On June 16, ACRL will also say goodbye to longtime staff member and current Senior Strategist for Special Initiatives Kara Malenfant. Since joining ACRL staff in September 2005, Malenfant has coordinated the division’s government relations advocacy, scholarly communication activities, and Value of Academic Libraries initiative and co-developed and managed ACRL’s Consulting Services Program. She also served as ACRL’s interim executive director from April 2020 to September 2021. Among her many accomplishments at ACRL, Malenfant facilitated the creation of the Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education, several white papers and research agendas, and led the 3-year IMLS-funded program Assessment in Action. She credits talented current and former ACRL colleagues and ALA staff and member volunteers, more broadly, with helping her learn, grow, and accomplish more for the good of the association and profession.

ACRL is grateful to its departing colleagues and looks forward to supporting new leadership in building on their dedicated work.

For more information, visit ala.org/acrl.

Wolters Kluwer acquires AI-enabled drug diversion detection software, expands clinical surveillance capabilities

June 14, 2023

Wolters Kluwer Health today announced it has signed and completed the acquisition of Invistics Corporation (Invistics), a U.S.-based provider of cloud-based, AI-enabled software for drug diversion detection and controlled substance compliance. Invistics will join the company’s Clinical Surveillance, Compliance & Data Solutions unit, part of Clinical Solutions.

Invistics’ solution, Flowlytics, uses predictive analytics to detect illicit diversion of both controlled and non-controlled medications in patient care settings such as hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. Drug diversion is a growing challenge in the U.S. healthcare system, costing some $70 billion per year. One study estimates 10% to 15% of health professionals will misuse drugs or alcohol at some point in their career, increasing the risk for drug diversion.¹ Drug diversion occurs when a healthcare worker illegally obtains or uses prescription drugs intended for a patient.

Flowlytics reconciles drug transactions from purchase to patient and uses AI to rapidly and accurately identify patterns of behavior consistent with drug diversion. A five-year National Institutes of Health-funded study found that Flowlytics detected cases of drug diversion faster and with more efficiency than legacy solutions.² In addition to detection, the solution also supports diversion investigation, adjudication, and reporting workflows.

Invistics’ advanced technology solution fits perfectly with our existing offerings, such as Simplifi+® and Sentri7®, which help customers achieve optimal clinical outcomes and regulatory compliance. Our efforts to help health systems deploy effective pharmacy surveillance and compliance programs to reduce patient risk are further enhanced by incorporating the Invistics solution.

Karen Kobelski, Vice President and General Manager for Clinical Surveillance, Compliance & Data Solutions at Wolters Kluwer Health

“Invistics is recognized as a leader in innovative approaches for drug diversion detection and controlled substance compliance. We are excited to join Wolters Kluwer Health—our shared commitment to patient safety makes this a natural home for Invistics,” commented Tom Knight, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Invistics.

Reviewer Credits expands its service for peer reviewers with a new reward center – celebrating with free training courses for reviewers

June 14, 2023

Reviewer Credits (RC), the global expert network that makes peer review visible and helps researchers get recognitIon for their work, has launched a new reward center. Reviewers can now choose to redeem the credit points they receive from participating publishers, selecting from more than 20 services to help them publish their scientIfic artIcles and achieve maximum professional impact. One core element of the services offered is a suite of online learning courses for reviewers.

“40% of reviewers say they did not receive any proper training or preparation for this core element of their role in academic publishing,” says Dr. Gareth Dyke, who led the team creatIng the courses. “Reviewer Credits makes sure peer review is both professional and enjoyable for researchers.” Five courses of 20 minutes each are available, and credits are given for finishing them.

“Our new rewards center builds on Reviewer Credits’ commitment to create different incentIves for peer reviewers around the world,’ says Dr. Sven Fund, RC’s Managing Director. “Of course, academic recognitIon is key, but also offering reviewers credit points that they can invest into their own research is an important tool for publishers to walk the talk” The reward center offers services such as quick and cost-effectIve artIcle editing and pre-peer review as well as infographics, posters, video and podcast promotion. The reward center comprises the best services from nine different internatIonal vendors.

PeerJ announces Open Advances, a new journal series to address the world’s biggest challenges by unlocking Open Access

June 14, 2023

PeerJ, the award-winning open access publisher, is proud to announce the launch of the Open Advances series of journals and the expansion of its commitment to democratizing scientific communication. The series will foster an equitable approach that empowers researchers worldwide to contribute valuable insights towards solving global challenges.

The Open Advances series is a transformative endeavor that cements PeerJ’s commitment to openness, innovation, and knowledge dissemination. Jason Hoyt, CEO of PeerJ, commented, “We believe that knowledge should be freely accessible to all. With Open Advances, we aim to empower researchers, promote participation, and drive positive change on a global scale.”

Open Advances will encompass a range of disciplines, with the first four journals covering Ecology, Marine Biology, Plant Science and Zoology. The scope of the journals will be developed and defined by a globally representative board of editors. As experts in their respective fields, the editorial boards, led by Editors-in-Chief, will identify the most pressing questions and challenges in their field, and select those submissions which make meaningful contributions to solving them.

Peter Binfield, Publisher at PeerJ, expressed his excitement about the launch, saying, “Open Advances marks a new chapter in our commitment to Open Access. By putting the power of research dissemination in the hands of the scientific community, we can collectively drive forward our understanding and address the urgent challenges faced by society. The Open Advances series is a platform for groundbreaking research that will shape the future.”

With Open Advances, the barriers of access and publication fees are shattered. From launch, no researcher will be required to pay a fee to publish in the journals. PeerJ will provide initial funding to support the endeavor, ensuring that groundbreaking research can be freely disseminated without imposing financial burdens on researchers. Over time, the journals will transition to be supported by PeerJ’s recently announced Annual Institutional Memberships and, eventually, collective funding.

“The Open Advances series embodies our commitment to inclusivity in research communication. We believe that the contributions of researchers from around the world are vital to solving global challenges,” said Nathaniel Gore, PeerJ’s Director of Communities. “We are excited to unlock open access, and support research communities in answering the most pressing questions facing the world today.”

The Open Advances series will follow a rigorous peer review process to ensure the quality and reliability of published research. Accepted articles will be accompanied by their full peer review reports, providing readers with transparency and insight into the evaluation process. Additionally, an Impact Statement from both the Editorial Board and the authors will highlight the key questions or challenges addressed by the research, further enriching the publication.

For further information about the Open Advances series, please visit:

https://peerj.com/open-advances/

Wiley and European Hematology Association Announce Partnership

June 14, 2023

Wiley, one of the world’s largest publishers and a global leader in research and education, today announced that it will publish the open access journal HemaSphere on behalf of the European Hematology Association (EHA), the largest community of European hematologists, beginning in January 2024.

“Wiley continues to prioritize open access publishing and EHA is a membership organization committed to promoting excellence in patient care through research, and education,” said Shawn Morton, Wiley Senior Editorial Director, Health Sciences. “Our partnership aims to combine our strengths and establish HemaSphere as the foremost open resource for hematologists worldwide.”

Led by Editor in Chief, Professor Jan Cools of VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology in Leuven, Belgium,HemaSphere is dedicated to supporting hematology patient care, research, and education on a global scale. The journal is fully open access, publishing peer-reviewed original basic, translational, and clinical research articles as well as guidelines, review articles, perspectives, editorials, and more.

“The new collaboration between EHA and Wiley is an exciting opportunity for HemaSphere,” said Ignacio Quiles, Managing Director of EHA. “As a leading open access journal for the hematology community, HemaSphere is a prominent publication in the field. With Wiley as our publishing partner, we anticipate continued expansion and accomplishment. We are certain that its knowledge and experience will be advantageous to HemaSphere‘s exceptional Editors and Editorial Board, enabling them to further elevate the journal and its impact in the field of hematology.”

This new partnership reflects the ongoing commitment of Wiley to the principles and practices of open access. Wiley actively collaborates with numerous professional societies to facilitate the dissemination of scientific knowledge while minimizing barriers to access and sharing.

Research Integrity at your fingertips with new world-leading Dimensions app

June 14, 2023

Digital Science company Dimensions has today launched its new Dimensions Research Integrity app, enabling users to ensure the highest standards of research integrity and helping to build global trust in research.

The Dimensions Research Integrity app uses AI to track the presence of several Trust Markers across tens of millions of publications worldwide. Developed for universities, funders and publishers, the app’s users can analyze these Trust Markers related to their organization, and for any organization of the same type.

Trust Markers are hallmarks of professional, transparent, well-communicated and reproducible scientific research, and include statements of ethical approval, conflicts of interest, author contributions, and data availability.

“Our new web app will play a critical role in response to the growing and alarming level of research integrity issues. This is a first of its kind app built on the largest research integrity data for academic institutions, governments, funding bodies, and publishers to make informed decisions,” says Dr Leslie McIntosh, Vice President of Research Integrity at Digital Science.

“Research integrity is a towering and sustained problem for all stakeholders in the research community, and unfortunately this leads to public mistrust in research and its funding. It’s estimated that in the US alone, tens of billions of dollars are spent on results that are neither reproducible nor transparent.

“Our new Dimensions Research Integrity app has been designed as the world’s first cross-publisher, cross-institution, cross-funder research integrity app, so we can provide maximum benefit to those most affected,” Dr McIntosh says.

Benefits to users

The Dimensions Research Integrity app is tailored to three key stakeholder groups: Universities and other research organizations, Funders, and Publishers.

The app will help organizations to monitor transparency and reproducibility in research, as well as compliance with appropriate policies and regulations, such as funding bodies’ open data mandates.

Users will be able to:

Identify areas of research practice that need most attention
Measure transparency and reproducibility of research
Compare research integrity performance against competitors and global trends
Target interventions to improve research practice and culture, and measure their effects.

Ease of use and accessibility

“As with all Dimensions apps, the Dimensions Research Integrity app is a straightforward way for our research stakeholders to access sophisticated data analysis, even if they don’t have a data analysis team available to produce their own dashboards and custom charts,” Dr McIntosh says.

“The Dimensions Research Integrity app represents a significant leap forward in ensuring the reproducibility and trustworthiness of scientific research. By harnessing the power of data and providing accessible and user-friendly tools, researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers can collectively elevate the standards of research integrity, enabling groundbreaking discoveries that will shape the future.”

Watch a video about the Dimensions Research Integrity app: https://youtu.be/NGVVJJyjSz0

Find out more about the Dimensions Research Integrity app.

Introducing Environmental Research: Food Systems – IOP Publishing’s new OA journal dedicated to achieving sustainable global food solutions

June 7, 2023

IOP Publishing (IOPP) is expanding its open access (OA) Environmental Research portfolio to address the urgent need for sustainable food solutions globally. Environmental Research: Food Systems, which supports the United Nation’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), is an interdisciplinary forum for researchers working to achieve sustainable global food security.

Scientific innovations are key to transforming the global food system. Efficient and effective food supply enables the world to achieve progress on all 17 of the SDGs, from eliminating poverty and hunger through to lowering emissions of climate-warming gases. According to recent stats from market insights provider, The Lens, research outputs related to food systems have increased by more than 200% and citations have more than doubled in the last 10 years.

Nathan Mueller, newly appointed Editor in Chief of Environmental Research: Food Systems and Assistant Professor at Colorado State University, says: “The health and well-being of people and the planet requires environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable food systems. As the world faces a changing climate, a growing population, and widespread food insecurity, the need for innovative transdisciplinary food systems research is greater than ever. From production to consumption and local to global, Environmental Research: Food Systems is a home for rigorous, open access science that can promote innovation, inform policy and practice, and foster transformative change for a sustainable and secure future.” 

Dr Tim Smith, Head of Portfolio Development at IOP Publishing says: “Science plays a crucial role in addressing the cracks in the global food system. Environmental Research: Food Systems has been launched to meet the need for an open access research platform that addresses the future risks, security and adaption of our food systems worldwide at a time when the need for sustainable food solutions has never been more pressing.”

IOP Publishing will waive all OA article publication charges for articles submitted to the journal before 2025. In the spirit of transparency and reproducibility, authors publishing in the journal are encouraged to share data and code where appropriate for the benefit of the research community. Authors also have the option to submit their papers for double anonymous and transparent peer review.

Environmental Research: Food Systems is the latest addition to IOPP’s expanding Environmental Research Series which is now made up of eight OA journals.