“Open access” is the phrase on the tongues of many in academia, and with its latest publishing effort, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is placing itself at the forefront of the trend.

On Monday, AAOS announced the launch of a new online-only journal built around open-access principles. For months, the group has been making access to its Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons more open in nature, but the new JAAOS Global Research & Reviews will be fully open-access at the outset. The journal is now accepting manuscript submissions.

“The AAOS has been committed to providing excellence in orthopedic education on the world stage for many years, and the demand for AAOS products and services on an international level continues to grow,” AAOS President Gerald R. Williams Jr. said in a news release. “We have dozens of agents and distributors in more than 85 countries representing AAOS. JAAOS Global Research & Reviews is a natural extension of our efforts.”

Williams added that the new journal would encourage a variety of submissions, and it would “place a particular emphasis on content that originates outside North America.”

In addition, both the new and existing journals will share top editors and the editorial board as a whole. As such, the new publication will have the same rigorous standards of peer review.

“Our new journal is an excellent opportunity for authors worldwide to have their papers published in an AAOS journal,” stated Jeffrey S. Fischgrund, the editor-in-chief of JAAOS.

The new journal comes roughly six months after the academy announced it would give authors from the primary JAAOS journal the opportunity to publish their materials under an open-access option. Williams called the move “a logical extension of the Journal’s editorial operations and furthers its educational mission.”

A list of the types of open-access offerings available to authors can be found at the JAAOS website.

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