New ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication helps scientists make their research stand out

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2019 — In light of a rapidly changing publishing landscape and an expanding definition of communications within the scholarly research community, the Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is proud to announce the new ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication. It is a significant expansion of the highly renowned ACS Style Guide, updated to include essential assistance to researchers at various stages in their career — from students who are learning about scholarly publishing and communications to seasoned research professionals, educators and librarians.

The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication covers broad principles, such as open science and publication ethics, as well as the nuts and bolts of references and machine-actionable data. To cover such a diverse range of topics, four editors who represent different aspects of scholarly communication assembled a team of authors. Both the authors and editors wrote chapters. The editors are: Gregory M. Banik, Ph.D., general manager at Bio-Rad Laboratories, Informatics Division; Grace Baysinger, chemistry and chemical engineering librarian at Stanford University; Prashant Kamat, Ph.D., Rev. John A. Zahm professor of science, University of Notre Dame, and editor-in-chief of ACS Energy Letters; and Norbert Pienta, Ph.D., chemistry professor (retired), University of Georgia, and former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Chemical Education.

“The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication is vital to the chemistry community in general and the chemical information community in particular,” says Banik, most notably due to the inclusion of three new chapters dedicated to data in the digital era. 

Baysinger notes, “The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication is a resource useful to many scientific disciplines. It will also be useful to educators, as well as to authors where English is not their native language.”

The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication is a digital publication available starting in January 2020 with a subscription. Subscribing libraries will be able to give their users universal access to this content, both on and off campus. This accessibility gives readers extensive links to related websites and in-line videos throughout the work. New topics will be added continuously and updated to expand communication beyond the scientific journal. This will include patents, the intricacies of communicating science to the public and decision-makers, data conventions beyond chemistry and ethics in scientific research.

“I have been an editor for ACS journals since 2003,” reflects Kamat. “I have seen tens of thousands of submissions, many of which were rejected because of poor composition, flawed graphics or failure to meet the journal scope. The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication will provide authors with all the necessary information to prepare a research article and stay ahead of the competition.”

In 2019, ACS will release new chapters for free public review, as they publish. The first published chapters of the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication are available online now.

“Communication is vital in the world of scientific research,” says Brandon Nordin, senior vice president, marketing, sales & innovation, American Chemical Society, Publications Division. “We are excited about the revitalization of the ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication and the tools it will give scientists across the globe to accurately communicate their research.”

From January 2020, access will require an organizational subscription. Individuals interested in requesting trial access on behalf of their organization are invited to email acspubssales@acs.org.

About the American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. The Society is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. The Society does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Through its Publications Division, ACS publishes 60 peer-reviewed journals and many eBooks, including digital archives of legacy scientific research published since the Society’s founding, as well as the industry-leading weekly news periodical, Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature. Its Publications Division offers high-quality service to authors and readers, including rapid time to publication, cutting-edge web and mobile delivery platforms and comprehensive open-access options. The Society's main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.