International Open Access Week highlights the move toward breaking down barriers and sharing knowledge with the greater community through open access publications. This year’s theme, "Community over Commercialization," encourages a candid conversation about which approaches to open scholarship prioritize the best interest of the public and the academic community, and which do not. 

Our Continued Commitment to Open Access*

For ASM, the focus on open access lasts much longer than 1 week. We believe that making research widely available through open access policies enhances accessibility, fosters collaboration and accelerates scientific advancement.

Every day, we take steps to do just that, including adopting a Subscribe to Open (S2O) model for our 6 primary research, subscription-based journals, starting in 2025. This innovative model relies on the continued support of subscribers, allowing authors to publish without incurring article publishing charges (APCs) and enabling readers to access ASM’s high-impact research without facing financial barriers or paywalls. ASM is creating a more equitable and inclusive scientific landscape that empowers researchers and readers alike.

We are also simplifying scholarly publishing for authors, funders and librarians through our partnership with OA Switchboard and a streamlined submissions process powered by the ChronosHub platform (coming in 2025).

Subscribe to Open (S2O) Model

The following journals will be included in our Subscribe to Open (S2O) model, making publishing and access to research more equitable around the world.

 

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy®
Research that examines the mechanisms and therapeutic applications of antimicrobial and antiparasitic agents and chemotherapy.

 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology®
Significant and novel studies on all aspects of applied and environmental microbiology, from fundamental to translational research.

 

Infection and Immunity®
Papers on infections by bacteria, fungi and parasites; molecular mechanisms of pathogenicity; interactions of virulence factors with host cells.

 

Journal of Bacteriology®
Studies on vital processes in bacteria, archaea and their viruses; molecular mechanisms of interaction with each other, hosts and environments.

 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology®
Research on laboratory diagnosis of human and animal infections and the laboratory’s role in epidemiology and management of infectious diseases.

 

Journal of Virology®
Covers fundamental processes and structure in viruses, the mechanisms by which they interact and evolve with their host and environment.

Fully Open Access

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines open access as “free access to information and unrestricted use of electronic resources for everyone.” This approach promotes global collaboration, accelerating scientific progress. ASM Journals upholds open access principles and offers various publishing models to enhance accessibility, foster collaboration and accelerate scientific advancement worldwide. This commitment ensures that researchers, practitioners and the public can easily access and engage with high-impact, quality research. The following ASM Journals are fully open access with every article open to all readers upon publication.

 

Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education®
Papers on the teaching and learning of microbiology and biology, including discipline-based education research studies.

 

mBio®
Highly selective open-access journal publishing the best research in microbiology.

 

Microbiology Resource Announcements®
Articles announcing the availability of any microbiological resource deposited in a repository available to the community.

 

Microbiology Spectrum®
Research studies from all domains of basic, applied and clinical microbiology that are of high technical quality and useful to the community.

 

mSphere®
Broad open-access journal for the multidisciplinary research community advancing all areas of the microbial sciences.

 

mSystems®
Papers on omics technologies, microbiome, bioinformatics, computational microbiology and synthetic biology.

 

New: ASM is also proud to add another fully open access journal as its dedicated home for case reports in clinical microbiology and infectious disease. With unrestricted access around the world, ASM Case Reports™ will improve patient care and impact human health. With APCs priced for authors around the world at all career stages, publishing in ASM Case Reports is within reach.

Discover more about ASM Journals and explore our open-access publishing options at journals.asm.org.

*Open access is unavailable for articles published in ASM’s Review Journals: Clinical Microbiology Reviews®, EcoSal Plus® or Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews®.