In this Issue:
BioOne Complete Introduces Two New Title Additions for 2022
BioOne has the pleasure of welcoming two subscribed titles from the International Odonatological Foundation to the BioOne Complete collection for 2022—Odonatologica and Notulae odonatologicae. This new content adds increased value to the aggregation’s existing 1.6+ million pages.
Odonatologica will include all issues from 2019 through the present, and will Notulae odonatologicae include all issues from 2020 through the present; all content will be available in XML exclusively via BioOne.
With these high-caliber additions for 2022, BioOne Complete will offer 217 full-text journals from 159 leading scientific societies and independent presses around the world. Of BioOne Complete’s 2022 subscribed titles, 74% have Impact Factors and 32% of publications are based outside of the United States. Furthermore, two-thirds of current titles are available in full-text XML exclusively through BioOne Complete.
The 2022 title lists and other resources for librarians are available for download on the BioOne Complete website.
Open and Free at BioOne—Looking back and ahead
Since its inception, BioOne has deliberately supported open access (OA) and free content options as part of our mission to make organismal biology research more accessible. At the time of BioOne’s 2001 launch, OA was gaining momentum and early milestones were established with the 2002 Budapest Initiative and the 2003 Berlin Declaration. As we move into our third decade, a growing variety of OA business models are being tested by publishers and librarians for sustainability and viability. Whereas the vast majority of BioOne Complete titles are included in BioOne’s subscribed collection, we want to turn the spotlight on how OA and free content complement this offering, while reflecting on the evolution of OA at BioOne.
Open at the Beginning
BioOne has offered services for Gold OA titles from its first year of operation. This recognizes the desire by researchers and librarians that all content–regardless of business model–be discoverable, accessible, interoperable and reliably archived, as well as sport all the “bells and whistles” that facilitate productivity and analysis.
The initial collection contained Vol 1. No. 1 of the Journal of Insect Science (now owned by the Entomological Society of America), which continues to thrive. The second OA addition, The Arabidopsis Book (TAB), published by the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB), launched its new model organism dialogue as part of the 2002 BioOne collection. TAB was an experiment for both BioOne and the ASPB, and this novel publication evolved dramatically in format, from book-to-blog-to journal, over the 18 years in which it was published.
Because BioOne Complete subscription funds do not support the OA program, we needed to ensure that the fees paid by participating publishers would cover the true costs. At first, BioOne charged publishers OA fees assessed by the article. As the number of OA titles increased, articles varied in length from journal to journal and thus charging by the page became both sustainable and extensible across the collection. It is worth noting that these publishers have developed a variety of business models to support their own internal operations and platform fees for BioOne–demonstrating that one size does not fit all when it comes to OA.
The 2021 BioOne OA collection now offers 33 Gold OA journals from 25 publishers. Of these, 20 titles contribute current content that is presented to BioOne’s user base in precisely the same fashion as the rest of the corpus. This benefits both the publishers and the researchers.
Many Flavors of Free Access
In addition to providing a home for OA titles, BioOne has always enabled publishers of subscribed titles to designate individual articles as OA. This practice ensures that authors are able to comply with funder mandates. Further, each publisher sets its own self-archiving or “Green OA” policies. While Green OA means articles will typically be paywalled on BioOne, this publisher choice is a hallmark of the editorial independence that is so important to BioOne. Guaranteeing this kind of flexibility is not only critical within specialized research communities, we also want our publishers to be better positioned to attract authors looking for the most appropriate outlet.
Like all publishers and aggregators, BioOne aims to showcase the breadth of available content and to highlight articles of timely relevance such as our 2020 coronavirus-related collection, or our annual tribute to Earth Day. BioOne’s editors also have the option to designate individual articles as freely available for the same purpose.
Because libraries are understandably wary about paying for something that is already free, as a means to balance both needs, BioOne now limits the amount of content in subscribed journals that can be made freely available for promotional or funder-compliance purposes.
Elementa-ry Lessons in OA
In 2013, BioOne proudly gave birth to its first wholly owned publication, an experiment in OA publishing named Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. In addition to providing the organization with another product, Elementa served as a means to learn the basics of open access publishing. The project required us to develop a separate platform to accommodate the essential components of manuscript submission, review, and editorial communication, in addition to supporting the software needed to receive article processing charges (APCs). These functions were all new to BioOne’s existing infrastructure.
BioOne hired six highly respected editors-in-chief with various specialties to cover the broad spectrum of research involved in the study of the Anthropocene. Their collaboration was critical and quickly evolved into a singularly productive means of intellectual discourse, where the “special issue” afforded the journal a means to focus on all aspects of current and emerging topics.
Like any good parent, BioOne invested its monetary reserves, as well as emotional and physical energy to nurture this child. Moreover, it involved a village of hard-working and committed partners. Elementa was an idea ahead of itself, and consequently suffered from the lack of such necessities as the ability to quickly obtain an impact factor, a reliable means to invoice and collect APCs, and the all-important ability to scale at the critical time when funds could not cover the lack of income as we built volume and recognition. Although it was a sad day when we sent our baby to college in the expert care of the University of California Press, we are all profoundly grateful to those who participated, and very proud of our child’s continued progress.
SUSAN SKOMAL, Ph.D.
President/CEO
Introducing the BioOne Complete Archive
BioOne is excited to announce a new institutional purchase option, the BioOne Complete Archive. Libraries can now utilize one-time funds to provide continued access to BioOne Complete content published through 2017. This rich database supports numerous academic and research departments—from agriculture to zoology. The collection provides context for long-term ecological and environmental trends, and the ongoing study of organismal biology.
BioOne is committed to broad access to scientific research, and the BioOne Complete Archive provides essential flexibility for our library partners. Whether institutions are looking to access BioOne Complete content for the first time or wish to enhance their holdings, this high-quality database puts a critical mass of bioscience content at your fingertips—permanently.
We would be glad to provide institutions with a customized quote. Librarians, please reach out to your sales agent or the BioOne Complete sales team for more information and pricing.
2021 Impact Factors Now Available
Clarivate Analytics (formerly the IP & Science business of Thomson Reuters) recently released the 2021 edition of their Journal Citation Reports® (JCR) using 2020 Web of Science™ data. JCR provides Journal Impact Factors and subject category rankings for indexed titles, among other statistics, and is widely used by both publishers and librarians to assist in title benchmarking and analysis. We are pleased to share key updates with you.
Of BioOne Complete’s 215 eligible journals, 160 are ranked in this year’s JCR (74%). The aggregation also shows an impressive category concentration in many of our core fields, including:
- Ornithology — 10 out of 28 titles ranked (36%)
- Entomology — 24 out of 106 titles ranked (23%)
- Paleontology — 11 out of 55 titles ranked (20%)
- Biodiversity Conservation — 13 out of 64 titles ranked (20%)
- Zoology — 33 out of 178 titles ranked (19%)
- Ecology — 26 out of 178 titles ranked (15%)
- Plant Sciences — 30 out of 251 titles ranked (12%)
We have updated all BioOne Complete journal pages with the latest Impact Factor and category ranking information (as applicable). To find a BioOne publication’s updated information, navigate to the publication’s homepage, and then click on the Scope & Details tab. Once on this tab, scroll to the Details subheading. The updated Impact Factor and category rankings will appear here.
Our publishing partners whose titles are not currently indexed by Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science™ and who would like to learn more about the application and selection process, can do so on the Web of Science Publisher Relations Site.
BioOne Complete Welcomes New Library Partners
BioOne is delighted to welcome the following institution to the global community of more than 1,100 organizations who support their students, faculty, and researchers with access to BioOne Complete:
- Texas A&M University at Galveston
See the full list of institutions who subscribe to BioOne Complete.
