From submission to long-term preservation, discover the full scope of what it takes to maintain research quality and protect the value and longevity of scientific literature.
At ACS Publications, we aim to publish the most trusted literature in the sciences, and our commitment to quality is a core part of that aim. We publish the best work from top scientists, which is enabled by our global team of research-active editors, our dedication to publishing integrity (as discussed in a previous ACS Axial article), and our best-in-class systems and processes that power it all.
Each article published in an ACS journal benefits from the same careful attention at each step of the publication journey. This commitment to quality comes at a cost; each article requires an investment of several thousands of dollars. These costs fall into two main categories: those incurred from submission through acceptance, and those required after acceptance to publish the trusted version of record and ensure its integrity in perpetuity.
Pre-acceptance activities account for more than half of manuscript costs
Around 55% of manuscripts costs are incurred before an article has even been accepted for publication. These include, for example, maintaining a network of hundreds of expert editors, who receive stipends for their work in managing the peer review process and selecting the strongest manuscripts from those submitted.
ACS also maintains a world-class and global editorial staff of trained scientists, with offices in the US, UK, India, Singapore, and China, who provide round-the-clock editorial support.
In addition to human expertise, our investment in quality extends to technology used in the review process. We employ tools used for plagiarism checks, image analyses, authenticity verification, and other quality-assurance processes. We plan to continue growing these vital investments into the future. The systems used to power the process require ongoing development and maintenance to maintain our standards of performance and to deliver the best possible experience for authors, reviewers, editors, and readers.
Every manuscript submitted to us journeys through this initial editorial process, even those that aren’t accepted for publication in an ACS journal.
Post-acceptance costs persist even after publication
The remaining 45% of article costs are incurred at stages beyond acceptance. In production, we utilize an ecosystem of people, technology, systems, and workflows to ensure each article is edited, composed, and published to meet ACS standards of quality. Our investment in technology and continuous improvement has resulted in some of the fastest times to publication in the industry, with most papers being published within 10 days of acceptance. We have also invested in the process of coordinating and applying appropriate licensing and access rights, simplifying this complex process for authors and readers. In the coming years, ACS Publications will also transition to a new delivery platform to further improve the experience for readers.
Our commitment doesn’t stop upon publication; we also support key activities after the paper hits the internet. Marketing efforts help boost the visibility of a published article, increasing its reach, readership, and impact within the chemistry community and beyond. Long-term support for the version of record also requires considerable investment. This work includes registering Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for each published article and handling inquiries through our Publishing Integrity Office. The outcomes of these inquiries may result in corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions, which are digitally linked to the original article’s DOI, to ensure the version of record remains the authoritative source both at publication and in the future.
We also update articles after publication to incorporate new systems and standards such as persistent identifiers and scanning of older documents via optical character recognition. This ensures all our journals and articles meet the technical requirements for widespread indexing. Even simple platform maintenance, such as ongoing security updates, is part of our support to ensure continued access to the articles we publish.
Perhaps most importantly, long-term preservation (often through partnering with services such as Portico) is a crucial part of the suite of post-acceptance services that publishers provide. Yet, the value of preservation is often overlooked until problems occur; the reports of many journals disappearing entirely from the scientific record is an example of such a problem.
Ensuring the integrity of the scholarly record for future generations of researchers is an important task, served both through active participation in preservation efforts and through the provision of services such as the ACS Legacy Archives, which provides digital access to “pre-Internet” materials which might otherwise be lost to time.
Preserving quality and sustainability in publishing
Even in cases where authors and readers are not exposed to the costs of publishing an article, both direct and indirect costs are still being accrued, highlighting the need for ongoing support and expertise. All the steps above are necessary to ensure a quality experience for authors and readers alike and create a level of trust in the published record that has a value far greater than its cost. At ACS Publications, we know that this quality is something that our readers worldwide trust, and our commitment to sustainable publishing ensures the knowledge we safeguard is available for readers now and in the future.