Happy 2021 International Open Access Week!

By Vicki Loise, CMP, CAE
SLAS CEO

I do love a celebration! The October 25-31 2021 International Open Access Week gives the SLAS community an opportunity to celebrate not only this special week, but also SLAS’s January 1, 2022 move to open access publication for its two scientific journals. Themed “It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity,” International Open Access Week calls attention to the need to catalyze new conversations, create connections across and between communities and advance progress to build more equitable foundations for opening knowledge.

This purpose fits squarely with the Society’s pursuit of research excellence in laboratory automation in the life sciences. It aligns with our desire to provide members with a clear path to advance scientific innovation and it accelerates the pace of research, encourages sharing and unites researchers across disciplines. Bottom line – it’s the right move at the right time.

After thorough research, member conversation and SLAS Editorial Board guidance, the SLAS Board of Directors announced its move to the Gold Open Access publishing model with new publishing partner Elsevier earlier this year. Since then, our two journal Editors-in-Chief Robert M. Campbell, Ph.D., (SLAS Discovery) and Edward Kai-Hua Chow, Ph.D., (SLAS Technology) and their elite Editorial Boards have been working with the SLAS professional team and Elsevier. First and foremost, they guide each move to ensure on-target and high-quality research, as well as a smooth transition for submitting authors and hard-working peer reviewers.

The new manuscript submission platform is up and running and accepting new manuscripts for both journals. Those manuscripts already in the former ScholarOne platform remain there and will be moved to the Elsevier platform when accepted for publication. My personal thanks to SLAS Publishing Manager Ally Jump for her expert monitoring and careful work with our editors, authors and reviewers.

SLAS looks forward to continued journals success with these new opportunities and assures the community there is no change in the Society’s rigorous publication standards. The journal names reman the same, and SLAS retains ownership of both journals.

Celebrate with us! Of course, we also invite you to:

• Submit a manuscript to SLAS Discovery or SLAS Technology

• Volunteer to be a peer reviewer

• Propose an idea for a special issue or special collection

If you have questions, please take a look at the journals open access FAQ page or contact Ally. Your participation is what makes our journals work!