WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have formed a partnership to advance scientific communication and open access publishing. The partnership will also ensure open access to research funded by the Gates Foundation and published in the Science family of journals.

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This collaboration is a natural extension of AAAS' mission. AAAS seeks to advance science, engineering and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people. As part of fulfilling that mission, the Association works to enhance communication among scientists, engineers and the public, and fosters education in science and technology for everyone. AAAS has supported green OA for more than a decade and has offered gold open access options via the Science Advances journal since 2015.

As a result of this partnership, AAAS will allow authors funded by the Gates Foundation to publish their research under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY) in Science, Science Translational Medicine, Science Signaling, Science Advances, Science Immunology or Science Robotics. This means that the final published version of any article from a Foundation-funded author submitted to one of the AAAS journals after January 1, 2017 will be immediately available to read, download and reuse.

The Gates Foundation seeks to ensure that all of the research it funds is published on full open access terms – be it in Science or any of the other 24,000 journals now offering similar options. Effective in 2017, support for open access publishing is built into every grant made by the Gates Foundation across program areas. The foundation has also invested in a new publishing service, Chronos, which easily connects grantees with journals offering open access options.

This collaboration will provide an opportunity for AAAS and the Gates Foundation to explore opportunities to broaden access to scientific research and to advance scientific collaboration and communication. The two organizations are in discussion about potential activities such as webinars, initiatives to engage younger researchers and women, and outreach to researchers in developing countries. The partnership agreement has been established for calendar year 2017 and a renewal option will be evaluated in late 2017. A public report on the results of the partnership will be released in 2018.

In a joint statement about the partnership, Bill Moran, Science Publisher, and Leigh Morgan, Chief Operating Officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said: "The robust exchange of scientific information will play a crucial role in solving the big challenges of the 21st century, from the spread of infectious disease to climate shocks and food security. All of us involved – producers of scientific knowledge as well as funders, publishers and researchers – have a stake in ensuring the continued integrity of global scientific exchange."

For more information about the partnership, see our Frequently Asked Questions or contact Meagan Phelan, Science Press Package Executive Director, at: mphelan@aaas.org. Media inquiries for the Gates Foundation can be directed to media@gatesfoundation.org.

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