Final two journals in the 2020 pilot program use Subscribe to Open to publish volumes OA

Nonprofit publisher Annual Reviews is pleased to announce that the 2020 volumes of the Annual Review of Environment and Resources (https://www.annualreviews.org/journal/environ) and the Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science (https://www.annualreviews.org/journal/nucl) have been converted from gated to open access. All articles in these volumes are published under a CC BY license and the back volumes, dating from 1976 and 1952, respectively, are now freely available. These are the final two journals included in the 2020 pilot program for Subscribe to Open, joining the Annual Review of Cancer Biology, the Annual Review of Public Health, and the Annual Review of Political Science.

Subscribe to Open (https://www.annualreviews.org/page/subscriptions/subscribe-to-open) is a solution for sustainable open access publishing that provides an alternative to article processing charges (APCs), the mechanism used by most open access journals. It uses existing library relationships and subscription purchases to convert gated journals to open access. Institutions simply continue to subscribe–there are no additional processes–and as long as subscription revenues are maintained, the year’s volume is published open access and the back volumes are made freely available.

The Co-Editors of the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Ashok Gadgil, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Thomas P. Tomich, University of California, Davis, responded jointly to the news: “We are delighted that the Annual Review of Environment and Resources is converting to open access. For 45 years, the journal has been a useful resource for researchers and practitioners who want to know the current state of affairs on the issues at the intersections of sustainability, science, technology, and policy from a global perspective. By going open access, the Annual Review of Environment and Resources now offers everyone the chance to understand our shared challenges from a politically neutral perspective that is rigorously grounded in the best science.”

The Editor of the Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science, Barry R. Holstein, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said, “For 70 years, this journal has documented the major breakthroughs in our understanding of the fundamental forces, publishing review articles from the leading participants in this endeavor, including a large fraction of the physicists who have gone on to win Nobel Prizes in the field. It is wonderful that our volumes are now freely available to the global community, ensuring that our researchers and students have access to the insights of the scientists who are driving progress in fundamental physics.”

Richard Gallagher, President and Editor-in-Chief of Annual Reviews, commented, “Each of the 51 Annual Review journals offers a skeleton key to a field of research. Our goal is to make knowledge available to everyone, everywhere. We are grateful for the support of our library customers who made this possible. The large increase in usage of the three journals that converted earlier in the year indicates that the program confers significant benefit in all parts of the world, but especially in nations struggling with persistent economic challenges.”

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Annual Reviews thanks the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for funding the development of Subscribe to Open, which was undertaken in partnership with Raym Crow, Managing Partner, Chain Bridge Group, whose insights underpin the approach.

About Annual Reviews:

Annual Reviews is a nonprofit publisher dedicated to synthesizing and integrating knowledge for the progress of science and benefit of society. Visit https://www.annualreviews.org and follow @AnnualReviews.