Editorial: Toward more open access of data while increasing the value of the journal
Colin Guy Scanes · Poultry Science · 2009
. Effective immediately, the following options will be available to authors of manuscripts at no cost above the standard page charges: 1. Figures may be in color in the electronic version of the journal (i.e., King et al., 2009). This is ir-respective of whether the figure is a line, bar, or pie chart; an image of an animal; or gross anat-omy of an organ or microanatomy of a tissues or group of cells. The obvious advantage to this new service is that the images will be clearer to the reader and be an improved representation of the author’s work. Moreover, with the increasing use of color printers, full-color papers become a real-ity for those with access to the electronic journal without authors having to pay the high costs of color printing. 2. Data including raw data, full statistical analy-ses, and additional micrographs beyond those published in the journal may be archived by the journal with links from the Materials and Meth-ods or the Results section of the paper. This ar-chiving and linking data will have a number of advantages. The obvious benefit is that data will be stored and be available to other investigators. The availability of the raw data allows reanalysis and facilitates meta- or holo-analysis. The avail-ability of high-resolution images on the anatomy or microanatomy provides the reader with the confidence that a representative image has been included in the paper as multiple images could be available in the electronically linked archived materials. Why is the journal offering these services? The un-derlying reason is the imperative to keep the journal as current and as high quality as possible. Offering addi-tional services to readers and authors will address this objective. The move is an attempt to meet the criticism from the advocates of “free access” that the data have been paid for by the taxpayer. This applies whether the research was funded in whole or part by the fed-eral or national government or by state, province, or county governments. It is argued that data should be archived to ensure transparency and, thereby, to reduce the possible inappropriate data manipulation or even scientific fraud. Moreover, archiving of data prevents the irretrievable loss of data that can occur with the retirement or resignation of a faculty member or, in some cases, the graduation of a student. Although it would be tempting to require authors to meet specific guidelines, this is not going to occur at least during my tenure as editor-in-chief. Instead, these attractive options will be made available and it is hoped that authors will see the merit in cooperation.