BJN gets a new sister!

In previous editorials, I have discussed the increasing number of submissions received by the British Journal of Nutrition (BJN) and the changes in the processes and technology of scientific publishing that have occurred over the last 10 years or so^(1–8). With regard to the latter, the BJN has for some time been ‘fully electronic’, with articles being submitted, handled and processed electronically. Accepted papers are published online, initially as the corrected proof and then as the final version with year, volume and page number added. Most readers view articles online and they store and print from PDFs. Electronic subscriptions to BJN greatly exceed subscriptions to the printed hard copy. Through the embracing of modern technologies, the BJN strives to optimise its service to authors and to readers. Articles published in the BJN are, obviously, freely available to subscribers as soon as they become available, i.e. as corrected proofs online to those with an electronic subscription. However, BJN articles are freely electronically available to all after 12 months. Open Access offers authors the opportunity to make their article electronically available to all users immediately upon publication of the earliest version (i.e. the corrected proof). Some funders require that authors take up this option, but only a minority of articles published in the BJN are Open Access. The Nutrition Society wishes to publish more papers in nutritional science and wishes to make more papers available to readers through Open Access. Therefore, in collaboration with the publishers of the BJN, Cambridge University Press, the Society has launched a new journal, Journal of Nutritional Science (JNS) (http://www.nutritionsociety.org/journal-nutritional-science). JNS shares its scope with BJN and the two journals will be closely linked, initially sharing Editorial Boards. JNS will be published only online and will be fully Open Access. Under Open Access, upon acceptance of a paper, the authors pay a one-off processing fee. This fee, which can often be covered by a funding body or host institution, covers the cost of reviewing, producing, hosting and archiving the article (note that in the existing publishing model, these costs are covered by the subscribers). Immediately upon publication, articles will be made freely accessible online in perpetuity and will automatically be deposited in PubMed Central on the authors’ behalf, ensuring visibility and citability throughout the community. The launch of the JNS represents an exciting development for the BJN, the Nutrition Society, authors and researchers. I am certain that JNS will be welcomed by all and I wish it success.