Dear Readers, Dear Authors, Dear Reviewers, It is the time of the year again where we reflect upon the highlights that impacted us most last year and to find out where we go from here. Thinking about last year, there are many things that come to mind that have enraged us, excited us, or even inspired us. Most of them are not even closely related to our journal and the work we do here. But some events are suggesting major changes in the way we do business. One such example is Open Access. Over the last few decades voices have been becoming increasingly louder, requesting free access to all research articles and related information. Without further complications such as blocking paywalls or not accessible subscriptions, scientists (or other interested people for that matter) are able to read available studies in their field and beyond, inform themselves about what is going on elsewhere, and maybe even grab some ideas to further their own research. It also supports researchers with a lower budget that do not have access to wide-spread subscriptions, thereby reducing the inherent advantage posed by higher funding. Open Access comes in many variants: Gold Open Access is the publication in fully Open Access Journals. They generally follow the same standardized peer review process as conventional journals. Green Open Access, on the other hand, means the simultaneous self-archival on private servers, institutional repositories, or other archives. In contrast to the preprints, only the post-prints have actually been reviewed by experts in the field. And then there is the hybrid way, meaning publication in journals that follow the subscription model, but also allow Open Access publication of articles. However, as often in life, nothing is for free. Although Open Access does not cost the reader, someone has to cover the expenses incurring until then. Open Access articles are also reviewed, corrected and polished by editors, journals have to be compiled, and typesetting has to be performed. All this adds a further value to the article that cannot be provided by self-archival or preprints. Currently, the Open Access landscape is very heterogeneous, and each publisher/journal handles it differently. However, since the movement is growing and Open Access is becoming a major player, different initiatives have assembled. In Europe, for example, there is the Coalition S, a consortium of major European research agencies from twelve European countries. In September 2018, they published Plan S, which requires Open Access publication for all research funded by the participating organizations by 2020. And in January 2019, Wiley and the DEAL consortium, representing over 700 research organizations in Germany, struck a deal. This new partnership will enable wider dissemination of scientific information by allowing the participating researchers to publish their work Open Access. And all this research is then also available to the rest of the scientific community, here in Germany as well as elsewhere. Open Access deals are also in place with Austrian and Dutch organizations. In light of these pioneering deals, other publishers and probably also research organizations around the world will rethink their publishing models. It is a major step towards a currently unknown future that will change the publishing landscape as we know it but will at the same time be beneficial for all participants. If you want to be part of this new landscape and wish to make your research publicly available, then we are happy to offer you Open Access publication in ChemBioEng Reviews as well. Please check our website for detailed information (ChemBioEngRev.com). With that, we would like to loop back to the current issue and hope you enjoy the read. All the Best for a successful year 2019! Yours sincerely, Cordula Buse (Deputy Editor) and Barbara Boeck (Editor-in-Chief) Cordula Buse Barbara Boeck
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Dec 1, 2019
M I Santoso + 2
Open Access
