American Astronomical Society Journals Now Fully Open Access in 2022

Starting January 1st, 2022, the full journal portfolio of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) are now completely open access. The journals include the Astronomical Journal (AJ), the Astrophysical journal (ApJ)Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJL), and the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series (ApJS). The Planetary Science Journal is not affected by this transition as it is already open access. These journals consistently feature some of the most read and highest impact scientific research results in the astronomical sciences.  The AAS views this transition to open access as directly impacting the quality of scientific research, as stated by Editor in Chief, Ethan Vishniac, “Science works best when it is as transparent and as accessible as possible.” They also view this move as supporting their diversity, equity, and inclusion work in the astronomical community, as referenced in the following statement from their press release.

“The transition to OA will allow everyone to access this high-quality and trusted research, and it will offer scientists low-cost fully OA options for publishing their research in astronomy and related disciplines. The new publishing policy aligns with ongoing efforts by the Society to center diversity, equity, and inclusion in its work within the astronomical community.”

Read the full press release here: https://aas.org/press/aas-journals-open-access

Mark Konecny Selected as an OhioLINK Open Textbook Network System Leader

UC Libraries’ Mark Konecny, scholarly communications library publishing coordinator, was selected by OhioLINK as one of seven member librarians, faculty, and staff to become the OhioLINK Open Textbook Network (OTN) System Leaders. As system leaders, Mark and his peers will coordinate OhioLINK OTN awareness and advocacy initiatives regarding open educational resources and open textbooks as part of OhioLINK/Ohio Department of Higher Education affordable learning initiatives for higher education.

OhioLINK recently joined the Open Textbook Network, a high-profile and growing collaboration of schools, universities, and institutions that promotes access, affordability, and student success via open textbooks. Continue reading

Jerry Sheehan Post’s on Federally Funded Research Results and Accessibility

At the close of the 8th Open Access Week, Jerry Sheehan of the White House Office of Science And Technology Policy blogged about the impact of openly accessible research findings, especially federally funded research.

Three more agencies have announced public access plans (Department of Education (ED), Agency for International Development, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)), bringing the total to 19.  A good resource for understanding the requirements of the plans is the  the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition – http://sparcopen.org/ and the data sharing resource http://datasharing.sparcopen.org/ available through SPARC.

To read the complete blog post,  click here.