Paris, France 18 December 2018. Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) the international Journal that publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics and one of the leading journals in its field, has signed a two-year transformative Open Access agreement with the Max Planck Society in Germany. Under this agreement, funds previously paid by the Max Planck Digital Library for subscriptions will, instead, be converted into a publishing fund, enabling corresponding authors from the Max Planck Institutes to publish their articles open access in A&A, and at the same time, granting access to the journal’s content to all Max Planck researchers.

André Moitinho de Almeida, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of A&A said: “We have carefully considered the shift in the scholarly landscape and strongly believe that, for our authors and society as a whole, open access is something A&A must be actively engaged with whilst ensuring the sustainability of the journal. As a leading voice in the Open Access movement, and a leader in our field of research we are delighted to have signed this transformative agreement with the Max Planck Society in our 50th anniversary year. The period of this agreement will allow us to gather data evidence and expose the various practical and workflow related challenges that are all needed for a true and meaningful assessment of success.”

“As publisher of A&A, we are pleased to have reached this agreement with the Max Planck Society to convert subscription fees into Open Access publishing funds,” commented Anne Simoneau, Sales Director at EDP Sciences. “As a not-for-profit publisher, open access reflects our values and goals and this agreement further reinforces EDPs’ mission for dissemination of important research that accelerates scientific progress and cross-fertilisation of ideas of society in general.”

Ralf Schimmer, Head of Information at the Max Planck Digital Library, said: “This is a key agreement for the Max Planck Society, as Astronomy is one of our strongest fields of research, and A&A stands out as being extremely relevant to our authors, given the consistently high number of papers they submit to this seminal journal. This transformative agreement is therefore another significant step forward in our strategy to deliver Open Access to our researchers and the world.”

About Astronomy & Astrophysics

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international Journal published by EDP Sciences that publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics. 15th May 2018 marked the beginning of the 50th anniversary of A&A, a significant milestone for one of the leading original research journals in the field. Since its launch half a century ago as the fusion of 6 national journals and in collaboration with ESO, A&A has published nearly 650 volumes and special issues, disseminating the highest quality scientific research to the academic community. The journal is governed by a Board of Directors, whose members are designated by the Member Countries. The Board decides on the policies for A&A which include the general guidelines for publishing, the selection of the Editors, the various financial aspects, as well as the membership of countries.

About EDP Sciences

EDP Sciences is a not-for-profit publisher with nearly 100 years of history. Established in 1920 by the French Physics Society and several renowned scientists and industrialists including Louis de Broglie, Jean Perrin and Marie Curie, EDP Sciences is still owned by learned societies and has a mission to participate in the dissemination of important research that accelerates scientific progress and cross-fertilisation of ideas of the society in general. EDP publishes over 70 scientific journals in the physical sciences, mathematics, life and environmental sciences, energy, materials and engineering, health and biomedical sciences. It also publishes conference proceedings (www.webofconferences.org) and books.

About the Max Planck Society

The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (www.mpg.de/en) is an independent, non-profit research organization. Focusing on research fields that are particularly innovative, the 83 Max Planck Institutes conduct basic research in the service of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. More than 15,000 studies by its researchers are published each year in internationally renowned scientific journals.

For more information:
Charlotte Van Rooyen
Head of Marketing and Communications
EDP Sciences
www.edpsciences.org
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