Open Access Publishing Update

My editorial letter one year ago for International Surgery emphasized the importance of open access (OA) publishing in scientific and medical publishing. Effective May 1, 2017, I made the decision, following careful analysis and consideration, that only open access (OA) manuscripts will be considered for publishing in International Surgery after May 1, 2017. Those authors who submitted manuscripts prior to May 1, 2017, were invited to have their respective manuscripts considered for open access publishing. A substantial number of those authors accepted the invitation and asked that their respective manuscripts be published in the open access format.

Open access publishing is free, unrestricted online access to the results of scientific medical research. Open access publishing was stimulated, in part, by the use of governmental funds for scientific medical research, with one requirement being the immediate sharing of research results to all other researchers and other persons of interest. This governmental requirement has stimulated increased open access publishing. Studies now indicate that open access manuscripts are referenced more often over a longer period of time than non-open access manuscripts. This aspect is a major advantage to any author who wishes to gain recognition for his/her work. In comparison to embargoed manuscripts, a much larger number of scientific medical researchers see the research results much earlier.

The viewing of research results, on an enlarged scale in terms of the number of researchers in a larger number of research venues, is clearly to the advantage of any author. My intention, as Editor-in-Chief of International Surgery, is to continue to offer each and every author the very best opportunity to gain awareness of their research results in the shortest period of time. This is the reason for switching publishing in International Surgery to open access only. Our experience after more than one full year of publishing open access manuscripts is clearly a success for International Surgery. We continue to receive high quality manuscripts for open access publishing. I am delighted that we made the decision to accept only open access manuscripts. International Surgery is a committed member of the group of medical and scientific journals focusing only on open access publishing.

As I indicated one year ago, whether you wish to publish your manuscript as an open access manuscript is entirely your choice. We continue to encourage you to consider the advantages of open access publishing in International Surgery and to contact our Editorial Staff with your manuscript.

I welcome any questions or comments that you may have.

Sincerely,

Professor Christopher Chen

Editor-in-Chief

International Surgery