WASHINGTON -- The Optical Society (OSA) announced today that it has implemented a technology solution that effectively supports U.S. federal agency public access requirements and helps authors comply with governmental mandates to make their federally funded articles publicly available after a 12-month embargo. By partnering with CHORUS (Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States), OSA enables an option for readers and agencies to easily discover federally funded articles published by OSA and to then access the full-text of these articles directly on OSA's platform, OSA Publishing. The first wave of federally funded research articles from OSA will be made available on 1 October--exactly 12 months after the Department of Energy (DOE) implemented its public access policy--and OSA is the second publisher worldwide to complete implementation of their CHORUS solution.
"The Optical Society has long been a supporter of Open Access. More than 18 years ago, we launched our first Open Access journal, Optics Express. Not only was this a first for OSA, it was a first for the physics community. Today our publishing portfolio is comprised of a broad mix of Open Access and subscription-based journals, allowing OSA authors to choose the journal that best meets their individual needs," said Elizabeth Nolan, deputy executive director and chief publishing officer, The Optical Society. "In another Open Access first, OSA is one of a handful of publishers to launch its CHORUS solution on the first day that the DOE embargo expires. As a member of CHORUS, OSA is not only offering a sustainable, cost-effective and transparent public access option to U.S. federally funded research, but we are also helping to ensure that U.S. federal agencies can continue to fund important research rather than financing, building and maintaining the infrastructure necessary to support their public access policies."
While the DOE was the first to implement its public access policy, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memo from February 2013 requires that all federal agencies that spend more than $100 million on R&D must develop and implement public access plans that make federally funded journal articles freely available to the public after a 12-month embargo. The memo also calls for public-private partnerships to avoid duplication of effort and costs. CHORUS is an excellent example of this type of partnership as it allows publishers to continue doing what they do best--producing, rendering and archiving content that is easily searchable and discoverable--while simultaneously providing agencies with a cost-free solution to satisfy the requirements laid out for them by the OSTP memo. To date, CHORUS has signed on more than 100 publishers and almost 40 members. These publishers collectively publish the vast majority of articles that are supported in whole or part by U.S. federal funding.
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About OSA Publishing
OSA Publishing's Digital Library offers the largest collection of peer-reviewed optics and photonics content in the world. This cutting-edge repository includes high quality content from OSA's prestigious journals, magazine and its co-publications, a total of 18 in all. As the leading publisher in the field, OSA's journals have generated more article citations (42%) than any other publisher in the Optics category (Journal Citation Report®, Thomson Reuters, 2015). With more than 300,000 journal articles and thousands of conference proceedings from 550+ conferences, OSA Publishing provides a wide array of must-read content for the optics and photonics community.
About The Optical Society
Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and entrepreneurs who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. OSA is a founding partner of the National Photonics Initiative and the 2015 International Year of Light. For more information, visit: http://www.osa.org.
About CHORUS
CHORUS advances sustainable, cost-effective public access to articles reporting on funded research in ways that benefit all in the scholarly communications community. A not-for-profit membership organization, CHORUS leverages existing infrastructure, promotes collaboration, sparks innovation, and broadens the dialogue among publishers, funders, service providers, researchers, and other stakeholders. For more information, visit: http://www.chorusaccess.org.
Media Contacts:
Rebecca B. Andersen
The Optical Society
randersen@osa.org
+1 202.416.1443
Joshua Miller
The Optical Society
jmiller@osa.org
+1 202.416.1435