174 news posts in Open access

Frontiers news

26 Jun 2023

Designer phages: World Economic Forum emerging technologies report

As a World Economic Forum platform partner, Frontiers is collaborating with the Forum on the 2023 edition of its annual emerging technologies report. Chosen by an international panel of experts, the list of top ten emerging technologies included in the report were selected from nearly 100 contenders based on criteria including novelty, applicability, depth, and power. Credit: Frontiers Designer phages There has been a growing recognition of the crucial role in human health played by the microbiome—the community of microbes living on and within the body. Recent advances in synthetic biology have allowed the engineering of the microbiome using phages – viruses that selectively infect specific types of bacteria. This creation of so-called designer phages has been identified by the Forum as one of this year’s top ten emerging technologies. By reprogramming phages using laboratory tools, individual bacterial species can be targeted to produce therapeutic molecules or to become sensitive to specific drugs. Mine Orlu of the steering committee for the Forum report stated: “Engineering microbiomes using designer phages represents a groundbreaking approach to improving human well-being and agricultural productivity. By reprogramming the genetic information of these viruses, scientists can selectively target specific bacteria to prevent or treat diseases in […]

Frontiers news

26 Jun 2023

Flexible neural electronics: World Economic Forum emerging technologies report

As a World Economic Forum platform partner, Frontiers is collaborating with the Forum on the 2023 edition of its annual emerging technologies report. Chosen by an international panel of experts, the list of top ten emerging technologies included in the report were selected from nearly 100 contenders based on criteria including novelty, applicability, depth, and power. Credit: Frontiers Flexible neural electronics One of the ten technologies selected by the Forum panel are so-called flexible neural electronics. These allow electrical signals from the brain to be captured by sensor hardware and used to control machines. While neural electronics systems are already in use for treating epilepsy and in some prosthetic devices, traditional probes can cause discomfort and exhibit poor signal accuracy. Researchers have recently developed neural electronics that conform to the brain, reducing scarring and improving accuracy—vastly outperforming traditional hard probes. Flexible neural electronics could deepen our understanding of brain diseases, provide greater control of prosthetics, and boost the development of brain-monitoring devices and brain stents. Angela Wu, of the steering committee for the Forum’s report, stated: “In the realm of neural electronics, the development of flexible, biocompatible circuits represents a significant breakthrough that addresses some of the past challenges of […]

Frontiers news

26 Jun 2023

Spatiotemporal omics: World Economic Forum emerging technologies report

As a World Economic Forum platform partner, Frontiers is collaborating with the Forum on the 2023 edition of its annual emerging technologies report. Chosen by an international panel of experts, the list of top ten emerging technologies included in the report were selected from nearly 100 contenders based on criteria including novelty, applicability, depth, and power. Credit: Frontiers Spatiotemporal omics Based on the above criteria, spatiotemporal omics is one of the ten emerging technologies to be identified by the panel for inclusion in the report. Bringing together a combination of advanced imaging techniques and DNA sequencing, the technology is used to map biological process at the molecular level. Phillippe Roux, field chief editor of Frontiers in Cell Signaling, which will launch later this year and is one of the journals that has collaborated on the project, said: “Spatial omics has been identified as an emerging technology with the potential to revolutionize our understanding of biological systems. Frontiers in Cell Signaling can play a crucial role in promoting research in this area by focusing on the technical and analytical challenges in spatial omics.” In discussing the promise of spatial omics, Liz O’Day of the Forum report’s steering committee noted: “The emergence […]

Frontiers news

26 Jun 2023

AI in Healthcare: World Economic Forum emerging technologies report

As a World Economic Forum platform partner, Frontiers is collaborating with the Forum on the 2023 edition of its annual emerging technologies report. Chosen by an international panel of experts, the list of top ten emerging technologies included in the report were selected from nearly 100 contenders based on criteria including novelty, applicability, depth, and power. Credit: Frontiers AI in healthcare One of the top ten emerging technologies identified in the report, the use of AI in healthcare has come to prominence largely as a result of the weaknesses in worldwide public health systems highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These technologies can enable us to anticipate and effectively address future health crises and can also help to reduce long waiting times for medical care. AI-based healthcare could particularly benefit healthcare systems in the Global South. Alongside the benefits of this technology, there are of course also challenges such as data privacy, public acceptance, and patient compliance which must be addressed. A carefully crafted ethical framework will be required for any system that curates personal data on a vast population. Despite these challenges, AI-based healthcare solutions are poised to become increasingly prevalent in the next 3–5 years. Thomas Hartung, editor-in-chief of Frontiers […]

Frontiers news

26 Jun 2023

AR/VR metaverse to improve mental health: World Economic Forum emerging technologies report

As a World Economic Forum platform partner, Frontiers is collaborating with the Forum on the 2023 edition of its annual emerging technologies report. Chosen by an international panel of experts, the list of top ten emerging technologies included in the report were selected from nearly 100 contenders based on criteria including novelty, applicability, depth, and power. Credit: Frontiers AR/VR metaverse to improve mental health Mental health is widely acknowledged as one of the most pressing issues of our time. Although excessive screen and social media use have been associated with decreased mental wellbeing, AR and VR metaverse spaces are also being used to help combat the mental health crisis. This area of innovation has been selected as one of the WEF’s top ten emerging technologies this year. In considering the role the metaverse could play in mental health care, Corinna Lathan of the World Economic Forum report’s steering committee remarked: “As the mental health crisis continues to escalate, leveraging the metaverse holds immense potential for addressing this pressing public health issue. The metaverse can provide a continuum of mental healthcare services, which can both benefit patients and drive the advancement of this transformative virtual space.” The metaverse, which includes virtual […]

Frontiers news

26 Jun 2023

Sustainable computing and net-zero energy centers: World Economic Forum emerging technologies report

As a World Economic Forum platform partner, Frontiers is collaborating with the Forum on the 2023 edition of its annual emerging technologies report. Chosen by an international panel of experts, the list of top ten emerging technologies included in the report were selected from nearly 100 contenders based on criteria including novelty, applicability, depth, and power. Credit: Frontiers Sustainable computing and net-zero energy centers Data centers, which account for an estimated 1% of global electricity consumption, are a growing contributor to the worsening environmental crisis. New approaches, which address this problem, have been identified among the top ten technologies listed in this year’s World Economic Forum report. Andrew Maynard, one of the report’s authors and member of the Forum’s steering committee for the project, said: “Given the growing global demand for data centers, technologies designed to ‘green’ the computing industry will increase in importance over coming years. The inclusion of sustainable computing in this year’s report highlights the need for technologies to control and optimize energy consumption in computing.” Innovative, sustainable solutions in this area bring together multiple technologies to improve energy efficiency, including liquid cooling systems and repurposing excess heat. Creative approaches are also being used to integrate and […]

Frontiers news

26 Jun 2023

‘Wearable’ sensors for plants: World Economic Forum emerging technologies report

As a World Economic Forum platform partner, Frontiers is collaborating with the Forum on the 2023 edition of its annual emerging technologies report. Chosen by an international panel of experts, the list of top ten emerging technologies included in the report were selected from nearly 100 contenders based on criteria including novelty, applicability, depth, and power. Credit: Frontiers “Wearable” sensors for plants To feed the world’s population in 2050, food production must increase by 70%, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. To achieve this, agricultural innovation will be crucial, and technology is a key element of this. Recent advances in crop monitoring, including the use of sensor-equipped drones and tractors alongside low-resolution satellite data, have helped farmers by increasing the scale of crop monitoring. However wearable plant sensors will take this monitoring to a new level, and it is this area of innovation which has been highlighted in the 2023 World Economic Forum emerging technologies report. Wearable plant sensors are small devices that can attach to crop plants to continuously monitor temperature, humidity, moisture, and nutrient levels. This data can optimize yields, reduce waste, detect early signs of disease and minimize the environmental impact of agriculture. Although challenges […]

Frontiers news

22 Jun 2023

Predatoryreports.org: An open letter from Frontiers’ chief executive editor

To our community, In March of this year, we alerted you to the emergence of predatoryreports[.]org. This website and its authors, whose motives are unknown, deliberately seek to undermine our organization, our community, and the open access movement by disseminating false information about Frontiers. At the risk of feeding the egos of the anonymous and irresponsible people behind predatoryreports.org with this second public acknowledgement, I report here on how we are seeking to address this issue. As responsibly asserted by the Committee of Publication Ethics in April, ‘authors and institutions should treat lists of predatory (or fake) journals with the same degree of scrutiny as they do with the journals themselves. Lists that are not transparent about criteria used should not be relied on.’ Researchers and institutions have valid questions about the quality, impact, and motives of their publishers. Predatoryreports[.]org attempts to undermine any constructive discussion by sloppily promulgating “the p-word”; unfortunately, this unethical behavior is being noticed, creating concern and bewilderment. The p-word is a blanket derogatory term that is so easy to use that it blocks scientific, critical, and common-sense thought processes. Some employ it liberally to create a smokescreen, in the hope that no one will feel […]

Frontiers Community Summit 2023: accelerating open science

The Frontiers Community Summit highlighted the accelerator effect of open science – and the critical need for quality, to ensure society is enabled by science and can take the right decisions. The summit took place as part of Frontiers Forum Live, an annual event that brings together Frontiers’ editors, other top researchers, innovators, and policy makers in a united mission to accelerate and mobilize open science. This 8th edition took place in Montreux, Switzerland, from 27-29 April as our first-ever hybrid event. The event opened with the Community Summit, where Frontiers’ publishing and technology experts provided an update on the global transition to open science – and demonstrated Frontiers’ laser focus on quality across all stages of the publishing process. Opening access to science is the most affordable, simplest, and fastest way to deliver solutions for healthy lives on a healthy planet. – Kamila Markram, Frontiers Co-founder and CEO Dialogs and discussions between key stakeholders across science and policy further strengthened actions and collaborations for open science, which will help build a brighter future for everyone, all around the world. Watch the talks via the links below. Jump to: Kamila Markram | Why our mission matters: driving the transition to […]

Science for all with compatible AI

Watch Mirjam Eckert, chief publishing officer at Frontiers, introduce the publisher and demystify its machine learning tool. With thanks to the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. Photo credit: Frontiers Human compatible Artificial Intelligence (AI) could empower us all. But public trust in good science will be key. At Frontiers, we apply AI to help build that trust. Our Artificial Intelligence Review Assistant (AIRA) verifies that scientific knowledge is accurately and honestly presented even before our people decide whether to review, endorse, or publish the research paper that contains it. AIRA reads every research manuscript we receive and makes up to 20 checks a second. These checks cover, among other things, language quality, the integrity of figures and images, plagiarism, and conflicts of interest. The results give editors and reviewers another perspective as they decide whether to put a research paper through our rigorous and transparent peer review. We face global, existential threats, from health emergencies to climate change. We can manage and reverse these threats, for healthy lives on a healthy planet – with political will, global collaboration, and scientific breakthrough at a scale not yet seen. On all those counts, success will depend on the widespread sharing of the latest […]

Frontiers news

06 Jun 2023

Frontiers announces membership of STM

Gold open access publisher Frontiers has announced that it has become a member of the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers, better known as STM. Credit: Frontiers Frontiers has been involved in various initiatives with STM over the years, and more actively last year as a member of the working group on research integrity. Frontiers has contributed to the group’s development of new paper mill detection tools, in collaboration with a number of other publishers The move to full membership is a significant step in Frontiers’ ongoing relationship with STM. It will enable the publisher to make a more substantial contribution to the association’s work, including efforts to identify potentially fabricated or manipulated research, and academic publishing policies. Stephan Kuster, head of public affairs at Frontiers, who will be the publisher’s main representative to STM said: “this new membership is a natural progression of the work we have already been doing with STM and we are looking forward to increasing our participation in a range of projects to support policy development in scholarly publishing.” Fred Fenter, chief executive editor at Frontiers, said: “This is an important time for the development of academic publishing, and we look forward to […]

Frontiers Forum Live 2023: Accelerating and mobilizing open science for global challenges

This year’s Frontiers Forum Live brought top researchers, innovators, and influencers together in-person and virtually, united in a common mission to accelerate the global transition to open science and mobilize solutions for critical challenges – with the most urgent being to reach net-zero carbon to prevent climate disaster. The Frontiers Forum is where researchers, policymakers, and other experts from around the world discuss science-led solutions for healthy lives on a healthy planet. This 8th edition was the largest yet, taking place in Montreux, Switzerland from 27-29 April as our first-ever hybrid event. The program highlighted the accelerator effect of open science, making it clear that science has solutions to the climate crisis and other critical challenges – but must be openly available to researchers and innovators across the globe for these solutions to be implemented in time to avert disaster. Keynote talks from Frontiers co-founder and CEO Dr Kamila Markram as well as four iconic representatives of biodiversity, sustainability, and climate change – conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, former US Vice President Al Gore, and planetary boundary pioneer Prof Johan Rockström – reinforced the central role of science in restoring planetary health. And […]

Frontiers responds to the European Council’s conclusions on open science publishing

On 23 May 2023, the European Council adopted conclusions that called for transparent, equitable, and open access to scholarly publications. It argued for immediate and unrestricted access to published science that benefits from public funding. The Council has reached an ethically sound conclusion – that paywalls around publicly funded scientific research should be taken down. We fully agree. The question is not whether open access scientific publishing – but how. How can we expand those publishing models making rigorously peer reviewed research articles immediately accessible on publication, free to read and open to all? Our starting point is that we need a range of options. A diversity of open access publishing models drives innovation and will better serve the diversity of our scientific communities. And the principles of open science have successfully been applied in a wide range of publishing contexts, with excellent return on investment and the careful stewardship of public funds. That evolution must be encouraged. Commercial and non-profit models, including those backed by societies or research institutions, have demonstrated that open access publishing is effective at scale and can be applied universally. Competition, with price transparency, will help drive down cost, spur the amount of rigorous science […]

Frontiers news

01 Jun 2023

Frontiers appoints Julian Oei as Group Business Officer

Digital media executive Julian Oei has been appointed to the position of group business officer by the open access publisher Frontiers. In the newly created role, Mr Oei will join the leadership team and lead the expansion of Frontiers’ product and services portfolio into innovative data driven areas adjacent to the organization’s core publishing services.

Frontiers news

26 May 2023

Slovenian CTK Consortium signs national deal with Frontiers

Frontiers announces a landmark national agreement with Slovenia, via the CTK Consortium. Credit: Frontiers Slovenian universities represented in the CTK Consortium formed a publishing agreement with Frontiers. Partner institutions benefit from APC discounts and a simplified publishing process in Frontiers’ journals. Signed in March 2023, the deal will be in effect until March 2026. Ronald Buitenhus, head of institutional partnerships at Frontiers, said: “This agreement celebrates Slovenian universities’ commitment to open science. We look forward to empowering the research community in Slovenia and driving the impact of science in society.” Slovenia will join other international consortia, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, and Norway, who have signed open access framework agreements with Frontiers. Benefits of joining the partnership Frontiers streamlines processes for researchers and their institutions with tailored, flexible, and financially sustainable publishing models. We offer an innovative workflow alongside a dashboard, providing new insights and transparency.  Member institutions benefit from competitive article processing charges (APCs), centralized, flexible invoicing, a range of payment options and a dedicated account manager supporting library staff. Researchers have access to collaborative peer-review, article and author impact metrics and enhanced dissemination tools such as Loop. Frontiers offers continuous registration with no annual fee. Partners can contribute to the development of our […]