University of Iowa is latest institution to expand open access through innovative ‘read and publish’ agreement

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2021 — Researchers at the University of Iowa (UI) will soon be able to reach new audiences around the world, thanks to a transformative “read and publish” agreement with the Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Under a read and publish agreement, authors are eligible to receive financial support to publish under an open access license in any of ACS’ 12 “gold” open access journals, or in any of its over 65 premier hybrid journals. At the same time, their university maintains access to the complete suite of ACS Publications journals for researchers and students.

“With the growth of read and publish agreements in the United States and around the globe, ACS is leading science publishing toward the open access future,” says Steve Hansen, director of sales for the Americas, ACS Publications. “In pursuing this agreement, the University of Iowa has created an innovative opportunity for their researchers and demonstrates a solution for other universities to follow.”

“The read and publish agreement the University of Iowa Libraries signed with ACS is part of a larger effort by the UI Libraries to reduce the cost of open access for individual researchers,” says Leo Clougherty, director of the Sciences Library at the University of Iowa. “The agreement will allow our University of Iowa research publications in ACS journals to be immediately read by anyone, anywhere, without the paywalls that traditionally accompany academic journals. Our UI authors are delighted with the opportunity to share their research with a broader audience than ever before.”

ACS maintains read and publish agreements with hundreds of institutions in more than 20 countries worldwide, resulting in thousands of open access articles in the world’s leading chemistry journals. Over the past several years, ACS has seen significant increases in open access articles published and downloaded, with almost 30,000 open access downloads in 2020. ACS is committed to making open access publication easy for authors, and researchers at the University of Iowa will benefit from a range of tools to streamline their publishing experience.

“Researchers who publish open access reach wider audiences and have more visibility for their work,” says James Milne, Ph.D., president, ACS Publications Division. “I look forward to discovering more about the important research being done at the University of Iowa and helping to share their scientific contributions with the global chemistry community.”

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 all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and 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 leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.