To gain a deeper understanding of the open science movement and its implications for the future of scientific publishing, join us in exploring how the OA landscape in ACS journals has evolved over time.
There are more pathways than ever for authors to publish open access (OA) in scholarly journals, and the percentage of OA research published in the chemical sciences—including that of ACS journals—continues to increase each year.
To illustrate this growth, we looked back over the past few years to chart how OA has increased across ACS Publications' robust portfolio of journals. To gain a deeper understanding of this movement and its implications for the future of scientific publishing, join us in exploring how the OA landscape in ACS journals has evolved over time.
More authors, more articles, more downloads...
Between 2021 and 2023, the number of corresponding authors publishing open access articles in ACS journals increased by 38%.
This cadre of over 12,000 authors published almost 16,000 articles in 2023 alone: a 46% increase since 2021.
In the same period, we also saw a huge increase in downloads of open access content published in ACS journals: over 76.6 million downloads, up 64% from 2021 data.
… from every part of the world
Authors from all around the world are publishing OA in ACS journals. The numbers are particularly strong in Europe, where there’s a long history of embracing the open science movement.
Even so, the proportion of authors in the US and Canada who are choosing OA is increasing, and a growing number of authors in Latin America and Asia are choosing to publish OA in ACS journals. But what’s driving this increase?
More ACS read and publish agreements
We’ve recently announced that more than 130 institutions signed up to an ACS read and publish agreement in December 2023 alone. These agreements are designed to make open access publishing even easier for researchers, helping to advance progress towards a more inclusive and equitable global publishing environment.
The streamlined workflow for authors and administrators—who now benefit from reporting through OA Switchboard—has resulted in a 152% increase in the number of participating institutions since 2021, with more than 1,100 research institutions now covered by a read and publish agreement.
Your partner for the future of scientific publishing
It's important to note that even in addition to strong growth in OA publishing, subscription content published in ACS journals is also increasing each year, as discussed in our previous Axial post. As we head further into 2024, we’re excited to continue evolving our open access offerings in partnership with authors, institutions, and research funders to ensure ACS journals remain your trusted partner when publishing, reading, and citing the latest research in chemistry.
Download the full infographic for a comprehensive picture of just how far OA in ACS journals has come—and be sure to keep up with the latest open access news and initiatives from ACS Publications below.