The Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is excited to announce that as of March 29, more than 1,000 academic institutions are supported by a “read and publish” agreement with the Society. These agreements afford members of participating organizations unlimited access to all ACS journal content and a more seamless avenue for open access publishing. This volume of participating institutions represents 29% of all the academic institutions subscribing to ACS journals.
With participating institutions of all sizes and in 35 countries, this landmark achievement represents substantial progress toward advancing equity in the sciences, a core value of ACS. This milestone signifies ACS’ support of all students and faculty becoming valuable contributors to the advancement of science. These partnerships increase the volume of trusted, peer-reviewed research that is openly available for the world to consume.
Expanding global access to peer-reviewed content amplifies learning and enhances opportunities for researchers and students from historically underserved areas. This growth will have an immediate impact in expanding global equity in areas including South Africa (country-wide), Colombia (three institutions) and Mexico (three institutions), as these are in most cases the first agreements of their kind in the region (view a searchable list of all read and publish agreements). ACS has also committed to sponsoring the cost of open access publishing for authors affiliated with primary undergraduate institutions that subscribe to the ACS All Publications journals package.
ACS Publications has achieved this landmark volume in open access publishing because of ACS’ unique and flexible approach. The Society works directly with individual schools and consortia to understand their communities’ information consumption and publication needs and then enhances that understanding by conducting a separate detailed regional analysis. Finally, ACS partners with libraries, researchers, funders and institutional leaders to embark on mutually sustainable pathways to preserve the sanctity of top-quality peer-reviewed research.
More information for authors, librarians and administrators about read and publish programs can be found on the ACS open science website. ACS customers can contact their local sales representative for more information or to be considered for enrollment in this program.
