A year since our open access announcement
In 2022, we became the first major chemistry publisher to commit to a fully open access future.
This was a big decision for us as a society publisher but we believe that open access benefits our community and leads to a more equitable society. We want everyone to be able to read and explore research, stimulate debate and find inspiration for new discoveries - wherever they are. As the scholarly landscape continues to move towards an open future, our priority is to make sure that you have all the support you need.
How are we putting our authors first?
We are actively engaging with our community to build new open access models that work for every individual, no matter their career stage, institution or location. Authors in every part of the globe have different needs, expectations and resources, so we act flexibly to make open access possible for all.
We know that in order to fully support an open access future, we need to move away from authors being responsible for article processing charges. We already have over 1,000 open access agreements in place around the world, helping scientists to seamlessly publish their research without the worry of article processing charges.
Our end goal is an open access future that ensures that everyone, everywhere has the same potential to access and contribute to the latest discoveries in the chemical sciences and beyond.
We’re looking forward to working collectively with our community to achieve this vision.
How are we learning from our community?
Since our announcement last year, we have started working with our community to collaboratively shape our open access future. This consultation phase, which will run until 2024, is a chance for us to engage with people around the world to understand their needs and interests.
Throughout 2023, we met with representatives at various events in Europe, Asia and North America. We organised the first in a series of focus groups for librarians at key conferences and participated in industry workshops looking to create a sustainable and equitable open access future. In 2024, we’re looking forward to expanding our outreach to cover other areas of the globe including India, Africa and South America. Want to participate in one of our outreach events? You can get in touch by emailing us.
Photos from some of our community engagement meetings
We are dedicated to developing new and better ways of publishing open access that are simple, accessible and affordable.
Watch the panel discussion
In July 2023, we brought together panellists from around the world to discuss the importance of open access publishing for researchers and the challenges we face in making an open access future a reality.
You can watch their discussion below.
Click the closed captions (CC) button to view the English subtitle.
More resources to explore
On our open access hub, we explain everything from choosing a journal, the submission process, licensing, fees, discounts and waivers.
You can choose to publish open access across our entire journal portfolio. We also have 16 gold open access titles - 11 of which are currently free to publish. Our flagship journal, Chemical Science, is diamond open access, making it free to read and publish.