ACS announces inaugural JACS Au editor-in-chief and nine gold open access journals launching in 2021

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2020 — The Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is proud to announce the inaugural editor-in-chief for the fully open access journal JACS Au, Christopher W. Jones, Ph.D., of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). In a separate and closely aligned development, ACS is also announcing the expansion of the ACS Au portfolio with nine new fully open access journals to be launched in 2021. This expansion is a further example of ACS Publication’s commitment to open science and to improving the world through the transformative power of chemistry.

“JACS Au will align with the prestige and standards of the Journal of the American Chemical Society and offer high visibility, fast processing, and comprehensive, constructive and fair peer review,” says Jones. “Submissions will be adjudicated by an editorial team that represents the global diversity of the chemical science and engineering community and focuses on the science being communicated, independent of where the research originates. In this way, we seek to make JACS Au the premier open access multidisciplinary chemistry journal for the community.”

Jones has served as editor-in-chief of ACS Catalysis since its founding in 2010, a journal that attracted 70,712 citations and received a Journal Impact Factor™ of 12.350 in 2019. As ACS Catalysis’ first editor-in-chief, Jones has experience leading a new journal to the top of its field. Jones received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1999 and joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 2003. There, his research group focuses on catalysis and capture of carbon dioxide from the air.

“Professor Jones is an exceptional scientist and a highly experienced and successful editor-in-chief. I am delighted he will lead JACS Au as it develops into the world’s premier open access multidisciplinary chemistry journal,” says James Milne, Ph.D., president, ACS Publications Division. “The open access publishing environment is growing rapidly. JACS Au and our ACS Au family of journals will ensure ACS continues to lead the chemistry community through this fast-changing landscape with the highest-quality journals to publish in.”

The nine new ACS Au journals will launch next year, and each will publish research in specific areas of chemistry and will be fully open access. The suite of titles will be led by a new editor-in-chief and will collaborate closely with the established hybrid and open access publications across the ACS portfolio to maintain the high standards for which ACS journals are renowned. The titles will meet the publishing needs of researchers who choose to publish in fully open access journals or are required by their funders to publish in completely open access journals. More information on these publications can be found on our new open science resource center, which was established to help researchers, librarians and administrators learn more about open science and become active participants in the movement.

“The free availability of scientific research will be of paramount importance as scientists across the world work together to improve lives,” says Caroline Lynn Kamerlin, Ph.D., professor of chemistry at Uppsala University. “With JACS Au under the brilliant leadership of Chris Jones, who has been instrumental in taking ACS Catalysis from strength to strength since its launch in 2010, coupled with the introduction of these new journals, ACS has signaled both its awareness of the global trend towards open science and its intentions to be the premier venue for chemists to publish open access.”

All articles published in JACS Au and the suite of nine ACS Au journals will be made open access via a choice of CC-BY or CC-BY-NC-ND license. JACS Au will open for submissions on Aug. 25, 2020.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The Society is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a specialist in scientific information solutions (including SciFinder® and STN®), its CAS division powers global research, discovery and innovation. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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