Image Credit: Danny Kingsley & Sarah Brown
For well over a year now, ECS has been actively pursuing its mission to Free the Science™ with our Author Choice Open Access program. We have seen amazing uptake, and we would like to take a moment to thank these authors for their valuable contributions to both our journals and our mission.
We would also like to take a moment to encourage those who have yet to publish OA to do so—after all, it is Open Access Week!
Publishing OA helps authors, researchers, and the society at large (not that there isn’t some overlap between those categories) – here’s how:
OA helps authors
Open Access provides your work with more opportunity for exposure than standard publication. Because there are no barriers to access, scientists and researchers from around the world can more easily find and read your paper. The majority of our “most read” papers every month are OA.
OA helps researchers
Given that the work that our authors do affects our planet and our future in so many ways (renewable energy, anyone?), the more bright minds –wherever they are in the world, and whether or not they have access to well-funded research libraries – that have access to the work they publish, the greater the chances are of contributing to innovation that benefits everyone.
OA helps society
There are a myriad of ways Open Access helps society in its widest sense, but the more science communication is published OA the more it can:
- Contribute to faster problem solving and technology development
- Accelerate the pace of scientific discovery
- Encourage innovation
- Enrich education
- Stimulate the economy
Still not convinced? Here’s some more reading (and viewing!) on the benefits of publishing Open Access:
http://www.sparc.arl.org/resources/open-access/why-oa
http://www.righttoresearch.org/learn/whyOA/index.shtml
http://www.openaccessweek.org/video/why-publish-open-access
While you’re at it, why not take a trip to the ECS Digital Library—everything is free to read from October 19-25 in honor of Open Access Week 2015.
