Pennington, NJ – (January 31, 2019) – Since 2018, all the members of the German consortium of The Electrochemical Society (ECS) led by the Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) – German National Library of Science and Technology have benefited from a special publishing option: ECS grants all institutions participating in its program an unlimited number of article processing charge (APC) credits. This allows all scientists affiliated with participating institutions to publish open access articles in ECS journals free of charge. By the end of 2018, 52 open access articles from corresponding authors affiliated with a TIB institution were published and are freely accessible. The additional costs for this supplementary benefit come in the form of a small surcharge on the license fee. The TIB is currently bearing these costs in its role as the National Library of Science and Technology. Due to the program’s flat-rate pricing and the lack of a cap on the amount of articles that may be published, the added cost of participation is very low—only a fraction of the price of the standard ECS APC ($800 for 2018; $1000 for 2019).
The goal of ECS Plus is to remove barriers to open access publication for institutions and to help establish open access as the standard for ECS publications. The program helps advance ECS’s Free the Science initiative, which aims to make all ECS research free for authors to publish and free for readers to access (see www.electrochem.org/new-model-for-scientific-publishing).
The enormous rate of growth in consortium members in 2018 shows that libraries are very much interested in this licensing model. A total of 28 universities and research institutes decided to participate in 2018. This represents an increase of more than four times over 2017.
The TIB will not only continue the consortium in 2019, but will also support it financially again as stated by Irina Sens Deputy Director of the library. “If we want to change the publication market, we are dependent on licensing models that make it easier for authors to publish their articles in Open Access. The large number of institutions that have joined the consortium confirms that ECS is on the right track.”
“We could not be more excited about continuing our partnership with the TIB,” says Christopher J. Jannuzzi, executive director and chief executive officer of ECS. “It’s thanks to arrangements like this that we’re able to advance the cause of Free the Science, which has already provided over $2.1 million in article credits to authors who wished to publish their work open access with ECS. We are extremely grateful for the TIB’s ongoing contributions to both the Society and the field of electrochemical and solid state science.”
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If you are interested in participating in the consortium or require further information, please contact the TIB Team Licence Service.
T +49 511 762-8030 // F +49 511 76-14237
tib-konsortien@tib.eu
About ECS
Founded in 1902, ECS is led by scientists, for scientists. ECS advances electrochemistry and solid state science by publishing peer-reviewed scholarly journals, convening scientific meetings, and supporting emerging scientists. ECS’s Free the Science initiative is a long-term vision for transformative change in the traditional models of communicating scholarly research. The initiative embraces open science as a means of advancing research in the Society’s fields. Visit: www.electrochem.org
Media contact
The Electrochemical Society
Beth Craanen
Director of Publications
609.737.1902 ext. 103
Beth.Craanen@electrochem.org
