The IET launches open access engineering megajournal

The Institution of Engineering and Technology launches open access engineering megajournal

· Accepting submissions from autumn 2012 and available online in 2013, the megajournal will cover a full range of engineering topics
· Existing 26 journals to add open access option
· Announcement follows global research project canvassing opinion from 35,000 engineering researchers

10 July 2012: The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is to become the first engineering, not-for-profit publisher to adopt an open access model with the launch of a comprehensive, online-only open access journal. Open access options will also be added to its existing 26 journals. This is part of the IET’s continuing mission to make essential engineering intelligence available to the worldwide engineering community, benefitting researchers who contribute to or use this content.

The IET, which has 150,000 members in 127 countries around the world and has published engineering journals since 1872, will be inviting submissions for its new open access megajournal from autumn 2012, with the online-only publication expected to launch in 2013. As a broad-based engineering journal it will accept papers on a wide range of engineering topics, rather than focusing on a single specific field. The title and editor-in-chief of this new publication will be announced later in 2012.

From 2013, authors will also be able to choose to make their research free to view in any of the IET’s 26 existing engineering journals, which include well-known titles such as Electronics Letters and the newly launched IET Biometrics. Currently all research papers published by the IET’s journals are available in print and online to paying subscribers only.

The IET’s decision to adopt the open access model comes after a major global review with over 35,000 engineering researchers from academia and industry to gauge their appetite for open access. This research found that 87% of engineering researchers said they would continue to submit articles to a journal if it converted to an open access model, and around a third of them had previously published in an open access journal.

Daniel Smith, Head of Academic Publishing at the IET, explains: “The recent Finch report has further fuelled the public debate about open access academic publishing, which we believe is one of the most significant industry changes in recent years and yet is complementary to the existing subscription-based model.

“For authors it not only provides more choice in terms of where their peer-reviewed papers are published, but offers them more opportunity to publish high quality cross-disciplinary studies. This is particularly key in engineering, where many of today’s advances are being made at the interfaces between subjects. For readers, gaining quick and easy access to research is of course a major step forward and we are excited by the potential that open access offers.”

Tim Hamer, Director of Knowledge at the IET, adds: “Developing open access to quality engineering content which accelerates both research and innovation is a major pillar of the IET’s knowledge strategy. The introduction of our open access megajournal is an important element within this. We believe the broad scope of the new journal and the opportunity to publish open access articles in existing journals will be a welcome development for the worldwide engineering community.”

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Media enquiries to:
Lorna Hughes / Olivia Allen
Harvard PR
0207 861 2844 / 0207 861 3967
iet@harvard.co.uk

Notes to editors:
Interview opportunities are available with IET spokespersons.

About the IET
IET’s Inspec database, research journals and books provide a wealth of research and information in the areas of engineering and technology. The portfolio of research and letters journals and monographs (print and e-Book) in electronics, electrical engineering and related subjects are available online through the IET Digital Library together with conference proceedings, seminar digests and magazines. The IET Inspec database contains over 12 million abstract and indexing references to journal articles, conference proceedings, technical reports and other literature in the fields of science and technology. As a membership organisation, the IET is Europe’s largest professional body of engineers with over 150,000 members in 127 countries and is a source of essential engineering intelligence.

For more information, visit www.theiet.org

About Open Access
The traditional model in academic publishing is based on subscriptions where a set amount is paid up-front, normally by institutions and universities, in order for their staff to access content. The open access model removes this fee and means researchers instead pay when their papers are accepted. No fee is charged for submitting content to a journal. The IET expects its open access broad engineering journal to attract papers from academics who are working in emerging areas or cross-disciplinary areas that don’t have a natural home elsewhere. The peer review process will remain as stringent as it has always been and once published, open access content will be freely available online to anyone in the world.

The IET’s new megajournal will cover a full range of engineering topics from fields including Electrical and Electronic engineering, Mechanical engineering, Energy engineering, Civil engineering, Micro- and Nanotechnology, Computing and Software, Biomedical engineering and Materials engineering.