ACS supports HHMI researchers in transition to open access publishing

All ACS journals continue to meet funder requirements, as HHMI announces new open access policy

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), one of the largest private biomedical research institutions in the United States, recently announced a new open access policy that will apply to HHMI-funded researchers starting on January 1, 2022. From that date forward, all HHMI research must be made freely available immediately upon publication with a CC BY license, which lets others distribute, adapt and build upon a work as long as they credit the copyright holder for the original creation. The new policy represents a significant shift in HHMI’s current publishing guidelines, which currently allows HHMI laboratory heads to publish open access within a 12-month embargo period.

Who does this policy affect?
The new policy will apply if any HHMI lab head or lab member is listed as first, last, or corresponding author or co-author on original, peer reviewed research articles submitted for publication on or after January 1, 2022. The choice of ACS journals available to HHMI-funded authors will not be affected until at least January 2023.

Which ACS journals can HHMI researchers publish in right now?
Under the current policy, HMMI lab heads may choose to publish their research in any ACS journal. When publishing in one of the more than 65 ACS hybrid journals, authors may select license options to make their work immediately open or open access within a 12-month embargo period. ACS also publishes fully open access journals that comply with HHMI publishing mandates, such as ACS Central Science, ACS Omega, and JACS Au, plus the ACS Au family of titles.

Which ACS journals can HHMI researchers publish in after January 1, 2022?
When the new policy takes effect, HHMI lab heads may still choose to publish their research in any ACS journal. This includes our suite of fully open access journals, as well as all ACS Transformative Journals (until the end of 2024). Lab heads may therefore continue to use their HHMI budget to pay publishing fees in any ACS journal until further notice.

For articles submitted for publication on or before December 31, 2024, HHMI budget may also continue to be used to pay for open access fees charged by ACS Transformative Journals, where those journals are published by scholarly societies such as ACS, for as long as Transformative Journals status is maintained.