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Publish with Polish

Making Strides in Open Access Publishing

The open access movement has evolved significantly in the past decade, with authors, funders and institutions ever more engaged in its success. APS supports all of these stakeholders in interconnected ways, from data collection to seamless processes to customer education. The best part: Authors reap the benefits of a streamlined open access experience. 

Data collection is the first step in a smooth open access workflow. The APS manuscript submission system prompts authors to select standardized institution and funder names from curated databases. These are matched to persistent identifiers such as Research Organization Registry (ROR) for institutions and Open Funder Registry (OFR, formerly FundRef). This happens behind the scenes, displaying a green checkmark when the data are properly entered. This enables APS to accurately match a paper’s authors and grants to the proper schools and funders, which is essential for checking eligibility for APS Read, Publish & Join deals and for reporting back to those same organizations. 

The next part of the APS blueprint involves automated workflow processes. If an author expresses interest in APS Open Access during the submission process, its production system can automatically generate an invoice (complete with member discount, if applicable). Similarly, when an author from an APS Read, Publish & Join institution has their paper accepted, the system recognizes this relationship and sends the authors a notification. These solutions are only possible by having the correct metadata—accurate grant numbers and persistent identifiers such as OFR and ROR. 

Stacey Burke, APS publications director, open access transformation, digital and marketing engagement, summarizes this clearly in an interview from Editage Insights for International Open Access Week 2023: “Proper workflows and data integration is critical to ensure that an author publishes OA seamlessly.”

Finally, APS supports these key connections with author education. Open access funder and institution requirements have become more varied over time. Europe has Plan S, and the U.S. is awaiting final implementation of the OSTP Nelson memo. APS has aimed to demystify the processes by providing webinars, author instructions and FAQs. APS will provide new information to authors and members as policies change and requirements evolve. 

What is on the horizon? Many publishers are exploring new options for access such as Subscribe to Open (S2O). S2O is a subscription model that allows a publisher to convert journals from gated access to open access. APS will continue monitoring open access developments and innovative solutions. We are committed to evolving our processes as improvements become available. Our top priority is to offer a seamless open access experience for all authors.

For more on the topic of open access, read the September 2023 issue of The Physiologist Magazine. 

This article was originally published in the January 2024 issue of The Physiologist Magazine. Copyright © 2024 by the American Physiological Society.