Since 2018, all the members of the German consortium of The Electrochemical Society 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. (more…)

To usher in the new year, ECS is highlighting the articles from the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, the ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, ECS Transactions, and Interface that received the most full-text downloads in 2018. 

Please enjoy the articles below, and stay connected with ECS through 2019 for access to more innovative and influential research at the forefront of electrochemical and solid state science and technology.

All of the articles in the following roundup are open access/free to read.

Learn about ECS’s Free the Science initiative.

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To recognize the innovative research gaining attention across the diverse span of its topical interest areas, the Society highlights the top five most-downloaded journal articles in each TIA during each quarter of the year.

The most-downloaded ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology articles by TIA during the fourth quarter of 2018 (October through December) are listed below.

Highlights are based on articles published since January 1, 2016.

Articles marked OA are open access.

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To recognize the innovative research gaining attention across the diverse span of its topical interest areas, the Society highlights the top five most-downloaded journal articles in each TIA during each quarter of the year.

The most-downloaded Journal of The Electrochemical Society articles by TIA during the fourth quarter of 2018 (October through December) are listed below.

Highlights are based on articles published since January 1, 2016.

ALL of the articles listed below are open access.

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When ECS launched the Free the Science initiative, the Society made a commitment to constructive, industry-wide disruption based on a simple tenet—research should be free for authors to publish and free for readers to access.

Already the initiative has had momentous impact.

Since ECS began offering open access as a publishing option in 2014, over 35% of its journal articles have been published open access. Over 90% of those articles were published at no cost to authors, thanks to the over $2.1 million in article processing charge credits the Society provided.

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Plan S, created in a move to crack down on scholarly journals’ paywalls, is receiving pushback from scientists who call the plan “too risky for science.” According to Science Magazine, the scientists put their feelings into writing in an open letter backed by 800 signatories who say they support OA—which would make papers free and available to all—but not like this. (more…)

With top academic publishers like Elsevier holding a 35-40% profit margin and for-profit academic publishers earning $25.2 billion a year, Jason Schmitt began to wonder about the consequences of paywalls on access to scientific research. His questions led to his October 2018 documentary film, Paywall: The Business of Scholarship, where he questioned publishing practices and the public’s limited access to information.

According to IMDb, while filming, Schmitt says he was struck by the global energy and enthusiasm toward open access and the strong resistance to the movement by many of the world’s top publishers. “Further, I found that the funds paid to academic publishers are heavily burdening the higher education market, contributing to the rising tuition fees at all universities, the closure of many institutions and, ultimately, limiting science and progress.” (more…)

Stuart Taylor Credit: OASPA

The Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association recently sat down with Stuart Taylor, publishing director of the Royal Society and their very own, newly appointed OASPA board member, for an interview. Taylor holds 30 years of experience in publishing and has witnessed many changes within the industry, such as the introduction of the open access model.

“I began in the commercial sector. Back then, open access wasn’t a topic I was aware of at all and the concept of open access publishing hadn’t even been invented,” says Taylor.

By the end of the 1990s, however, Taylor says the rumblings of an open access model began to make its presence within the publishing community, which at that time, “Was seen only as a threat to commercial companies. Something to be fought or at least contained.” (more…)

In honor of International Open Access Week, from October 22-18, The Scholarly Kitchen wrote a two-part series focusing on both publishers and researchers from disadvantaged global research landscapes. The following publishers and researchers share their thoughts, concerns, successes, and setbacks on their journey to complete access for all. (more…)

ECS celebrated International Open Access Week 2018 by giving the world a preview of what complete open access to peer-reviewed scientific research looks like. ECS took down the paywall October 22-28, 2018 to the entire ECS Digital Library, making over 141,000 scientific articles and abstracts free and accessible to everyone.

Take a few minutes to tell us more about your Open Access Week experience.

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