Wind Energy flips to Open Access

Abstract

The Wind Energy journal has seen significant changes in the last couple of years. We now have Transparent Peer Review which we believe is a fairer and more open way of reviewing the manuscripts which we receive, and furthermore, the journal moved to Open Access as of the beginning of 2021. To further enhance the impact of our authors and to make their work more accessible, we also have an Open Data policy. These are exciting times for the journal with several new editors joining the team in the last couple of years. We now have ten editors covering the very large range of disciplines relevant to the field of wind energy. Every one of them is keen to help authors bring their excellent research to the wider wind energy community. We have also been refreshing our Editorial Board to ensure that we have a very broad range of experts who can help advise and guide the journal in the coming years. With global installed capacity of around 700 GW and growing, wind energy is set to make a large contribution to decarbonising our energy systems. That figure will only continue to grow, and Europe in particular has seen a significant growth in offshore wind energy, which is starting to be repeated around the world, particularly in Asia. These developments present new scientific challenges as turbines become larger and greater demands are placed on them by network operators. The challenges are diverse including having a better understanding of the wind conditions, understanding how wind farms affect their environment, developing new materials, devising smart methods for wind farm control, innovating in turbine and foundation design, and finding ways to integrate ever larger amounts of wind power into networks. Disseminating wind energy research is important not only to the scientific community but also the industrial community if it is to have true societal impact. Open Access provides an ideal vehicle to do this and reach as wide an audience as possible. The Wind Energy journal is proud to be part of the Open Access community to facilitate wind energy's contribution to the energy transition. Wind Energy is the oldest journal dedicated to wind energy research and has established a reputation for publishing high quality research in its field. With the move to Open Access, now is an excellent time to get exposure for your research through this journal so that it has the best possible impact on the broader wind energy community. The Wind Energy journal is keen to engage with the scientific community. With this in mind, we are excited to announce that we have teamed up with the North American Wind Energy Association/WindTech 2021 Conference and will be publishing selected articles from the conference in a special volume. We hope to have more special topic volumes in the future and would welcome your feedback on suitable topics. On behalf of the Editorial Board of Wind Energy, I look forward to seeing your latest research appearing in the journal. We will do all we can to facilitate that, making sure it has the impact it deserves. Simon Watson Editor-in-Chief, Wind Energy