The Microbiology Society has re-launched its sound science journal, Access Microbiology, as an innovative open research platform, putting the Society at the cutting edge of the open research movement. Access Microbiology transforms the peer review process in its entirety by making an article’s entire lifecycle publicly available. With a mandatory Open Data policy and manuscript Review Tools to help authors improve their articles from the beginning of peer review, the platform facilitates a robust open research ecosystem.
Aries Systems’ Editorial Manager® (EM) is the leading cloud-based manuscript submission and peer review tracking system for scholarly publications. The Society is using Editorial Manager for the submission, preprint, and peer review workflow of the open research platform, enabling a fully transparent peer review process.
Kriyadocs®, a document collaboration platform for journal and book publishers, built the ‘preprint connector’ middleware between Editorial Manager and Ingenta. As part of the open research model, all versions of an article—preprint, reviewer commentary, the editor’s decision, as well as the final version of record (VOR)—are posted online. A fully automated workflow has been developed to allow all peer review data to be exported from Editorial Manager using the MECA format, converted into JATS XML, and pushed to the preprint platform on Ingenta.
Ingenta, a content solutions provider in publishing, helped build and deliver the open research platform, enabling the Society to successfully push toward its ‘digital-first’ strategy and make the Society’s content more accessible to the microbiology community.
“The Society has partnered with Aries Systems, Kriyadocs, and Ingenta for a while now in publishing our journals, and it has been fantastic working so closely with them on this ambitious project. We are delighted to be able to offer the microbiology community a rapid and transparent way of disseminating their research, and we will continue to develop the platform to provide more opportunities to showcase their work,” said Alexandra Howat, Head of Open Science, Microbiology Society.
“Aries Systems is thrilled to have collaborated with the Microbiology Society to help create an end-to-end open editorial workflow,” stated Star Atay, Aries Account Coordinator. “We appreciate the opportunity to support advancements in open research through purposeful system optimizations and partner integrations.”
“Our purpose at Kriyadocs is to advance the creation, collaboration, and distribution of useful knowledge to benefit humanity. The preprint connector we have developed for Access Microbiology allows for critical research to be disseminated within seconds of the editor’s decision. We are delighted to have collaborated with the Microbiology Society in this pioneering endeavor to make research transparent and more accessible to its community,” remarked Ravi Venkataramani, CEO, Kriyadocs.
“Ingenta’s Edify platform enables Microbiology Society to make all of their content, including their open access content, readily available to the global community of researchers to help all of us work together to advance scientific discovery,” said Scott Winner, CEO of Ingenta. “Ingenta Edify was built to provide user-friendly options for distribution to the widest possible audience in the most readable formats possible. We partner with hundreds of publishers to make sure the world has access to the information they need when they need it and have partnered with the Microbiology Society to make this exciting advancement possible.”
About the Microbiology Society
The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects, and their practical uses. It is one of the largest microbiology societies in Europe with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes, and schools. Find out more about the Society at microbiologysociety.org, or visit the journals at https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/
Contact Alexandra Howat, Head of Open Science, Microbiology Society | a.howat@microbiologysociety.org
About Aries Systems
Aries Systems transforms and revolutionizes the delivery of high-value content to the world. We are committed to providing flexible and innovative workflow solutions designed to help enhance the discovery and dissemination of human knowledge. Trusted by thousands of publications across hundreds of multinational publishers, societies, and organizations, Editorial Manager® (EM) is built to streamline editorial processes, communications, and management of files for an efficient workflow. Publish faster, publish smarter, with Aries Systems. https://www.ariessys.com/
Contact Aimee DesRoches, Marketing Manager, Aries Systems | adesroches@ariessys.com
About Kriyadocs
Kriyadocs is a document collaboration platform that simplifies publishing workflows from authoring to reviewing to distribution. Kriyadocs’ platform solutions are augmented by publishing professionals who bring deep industry expertise in editorial, content, and project management. Built by publishing experts in collaboration with publishers, Kriyadocs is the partner of choice for the leading journal, book, and abstract publishers worldwide. https://www.Kriyadocs.com/
Contact Ravi Venkataramani, CEO, Kriyadocs | ravi@kriyadocs.com
About Ingenta
Ingenta is a world-leading provider of content solutions that transform business. We provide business solutions to media markets through highly configurable software and services deployed into complex business environments with knowledgeable and engaged staff, and superior service and support. Listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, the company operates jointly from Europe (Oxford) and North America (New Jersey). https://www.ingenta.com/
Contact Heather Lantz, Director of Business Growth, Ingenta | heather.lantz@ingenta.com