Researchers from around the world will soon have increased free access to a wealth of resources in particle physics through the IAEA’s partnership with the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3), thanks to an agreement signed this month.
The consortium, which is a partnership featuring 3000 libraries, funding agencies and research centres from 47 countries as well as three intergovernmental organizations, including the IAEA, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), enables open access to high-quality subscription journals in the area of particle physics by re-directing subscription funds. Under the scheme, publishers are paid centrally, thus reducing or eliminating the fees for SCOAP3 members.
As of January 2018, researchers will also be able to access peer-reviewed articles published in American Physical Society’s (APS) journals, including: Physical Review C, Physical Review D and Physical Review Letters. APS is the world’s leading publishing house in the field of particle physics – the branch of physics that studies the nature of the particles that constitute matter and radiation.
“The participation of the IAEA in SCOAP3 highlights the importance of open science and making scientific research and data widely accessible to our Member States,” said Zaven Hakopov, Coordinator of the IAEA’s International Nuclear Information System (INIS) and the IAEA representative on the SCOAP3 Governing Council.
