Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Science Partner Journal (SPJ) program?

The SPJ program is run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the nonprofit publisher of the Science family of journals. The SPJ program features high-quality, online-only, Open Access publications produced in collaboration with international research institutions, foundations, funders, and societies. More information is available here.

What is the relationship between the Science Partner Journals and Science?

While the Science Partner Journals and the Science family of journals share the same publisher and best practices, they operate on separate submission and publication platforms. All Science Partner Journals are editorially independent, run by the journal partner organization.

When are journals in the Science Partner Journal (SPJ) program launched?

The first journal in the SPJ program, Research, launched in March 2018 and began publishing its first content in August 2018. Subsequent titles launch on a regular basis. Please visit the SPJ home page for the list of current titles.

Who has access to content published in the Science Partner Journal (SPJ) program?

Journals in the SPJ program are published Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). This means that as soon as an article publishes, it can be read by anyone, anywhere, at any time. There are no subscription fees.

I am affiliated with an organization that might be a good fit for the Science Partner Journal program. How does my organization apply?

Details on how to become a partner organization can be found on the Become a Partner page.

I have more questions!

For more information about the program, please visit the SPJ home page or contact spj@aaas.org.

I am an author. How do I submit my work to a journal in the Science Partner Journal (SPJ) program?

Visit the SPJ home page to view the journals in the program. After selecting a journal of interest, instructions on submitting your research for potential publication in that journal are found under the For Authors tab/page. 

Are there any fees to publish in a Science Partner Journal (SPJ)?

Each journal in the SPJ program is an Open Access journal, meaning its publications are freely available to all readers upon publication. There are no submission charges or subscription fees. Each journal is supported by article processing charges (APCs), which apply only to accepted articles and are payable by the author, or their institution or funder to cover the publication costs. Most journals have opted to cover APCs for authors for a set period of time. Visit the SPJ home page to view the journals in the program. After selecting a journal of interest, visit the Article Processing Charges page (under the Journal Overview menu) for more information on any applicable APCs.

Do I need permission to re-use material published in a Science Partner Journal (SPJ)?

All journals in the Science Partner Journal program are Open Access, published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. With a CC BY license, the article can be shared or adapted so long as appropriate attribution is provided. Where content in the article is identified as belonging to a third party, it is the obligation of the user to ensure that any re-use complies with the copyright policies of the owner of that content. For more detailed information on the CC BY license, visit Creative Commons.

Will my paper be deposited to PubMed Central?

For authors funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other funding agencies that require their research results to be made publicly available in a designated repository such as PubMed Central (PMC), authors may deposit the final published version of the work themselves to PMC/UKPMC for immediate release (see https://publicaccess.nih.gov/Methods-C-D-BP). Note that, in some cases, articles may already be deposited by the publisher automatically on behalf of the authors; please see the journal’s Abstracting and Indexing page for a current list of repositories where all journal articles will be deposited automatically.

I have more questions!

For more information about the program, please visit the SPJ home page or contact spj@aaas.org.