It’s no secret that access to primary research (published in peer-reviewed journals) is essential to R&D, providing a wealth of information for other scientific studies. Yet, access to premium content isn’t free, and it can sometimes be hard to justify allocating funds for companywide subscriptions for one journal, let alone the whole range necessary to […]
It’s no secret that access to primary research (published in peer-reviewed journals) is essential to R&D, providing a wealth of information for other scientific studies. Yet, access to premium content isn’t free, and it can sometimes be hard to justify allocating funds for companywide subscriptions for one journal, let alone the whole range necessary to stay competitive. So, why should companies invest in premium content?
Innovative Solutions are Found at Discipline Boundaries
Perhaps the most compelling reason R&D companies subscribe to multiple journals, covering a variety of subject matters, is that doing so promotes innovation. The most significant breakthroughs now happen at discipline interfaces, meaning you can no longer afford to limit access to information by subject-level compartments.
For instance, the ultrathin highly-elastic skin biosensor and display—considered one of the biggest breakthroughs in early 2018—sits at the interface of engineering, electronics, computing, medicine, materials science, and nanotechnology. Likewise, a “pacemaker” for the brain has been developed to treat memory disorders, marrying the disciplines of neuroscience, systems biology, electronics, medicine, and mathematics.
By reading widely across a variety of disciplines, you can develop insights that enable you to foster similarly innovative solutions. Dr. Peter Toogood, Senior Vice President of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Lycera, says unlimited access to a wide variety of journals is fundamental for his team to stay competitive as it “promotes the identification of new connections and unanticipated relationships.”
Unlimited Journal Access Helps Improve R&D Efficiencies and Save Money
Unlimited access to high-quality papers can help you save time and money as well as expedite your research. This may feel like an extreme claim, but with unlimited access, you don’t have to stop to perform a cost/benefit analysis of each pay-to-view article that looks of interest. In fact, purchasing individual articles typically reduces the total number of papers read, and therefore makes it much harder for you to stay up-to-date with the cutting edge of your field. Without access to the latest information, you could miss breakthroughs in novel materials or methods, critical insights into basic chemistry, or other important information.
Let’s take an example: Your research group uses zebrafish as a model organism for various pre-clinical experiments in the drug or agrochemical development process. Some of the experiments are labor intensive and take a long time. Another scientist publishes a new zebrafish monitoring system that could automate your workflow, but you would have no reason to go looking for this information because your existing process works. Incidentally uncovering this information by reading widely in your field could save you significant time and money.
In addition, if competitors are keeping up-to-date (and you aren’t), then you could quickly lose ground in your industry. Ultimately, barrier-free access to journals could help you stay ahead of the competition.
Accessing the Right Content Helps You Stay Ahead of the Competition
Reading widely across disciplines promotes serendipitous breakthroughs, accelerates R&D, and saves your company time, but only if you’re accessing the right content. Without studying premium content, you may miss essential developments and waste time replicating data that already exists, diverting precious resources from projects that could result in novel, marketable products.
Investing in access to the world’s most cited, read, and trusted publications, such as ACS journals, provides confidence that you can trust so you can be sure that you are using reliable data to inform your research. If you’re interested in accessing world-class content from a plethora of disciplines, consider our cost-effective ACS All Access Subscription.