Meet the journals breaking the traditional research article mold

In the case of the journal Science Talks,(새 탭/창에서 열기) the editorial team is also experimenting with a new content delivery channel – video. Editorial team member Teresa Gagliano explains: “Experiments and findings are described on screen by the researchers who performed the experiments, removing one level of distance between readers and investigators.”

Lara M. Santos Ayllón, a PhD researcher at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, published a video in Science Talks(새 탭/창에서 열기) on the role of emerging technologies in the energy transition. “Sharing a video publication, open access, has likely increased my own network… it probably reached practitioners that are interested in this space but maybe wouldn’t have time to read a really long paper that I put out there,” she explains.

It’s a view shared by John Landers, a mechatronics engineer affiliated with Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He published a paper in Invention Disclosure on a new and unique prosthetic leg for above-knee amputees(새 탭/창에서 열기).

"It was the perfect platform for our publication. It allowed us to showcase our technology to the public while it was in the middle of the patenting process and provided exposure to an audience of entrepreneurs that could potentially become future partners.”

For John, another big draw was the fact that the journal publishes technology-focused articles. “The details of a new technology are often only available in patents or otherwise don’t get shared at all, which is a detriment to the scientific community.”

One of the goals of open science is to make research more accessible to all. For postdoctoral researcher Rosa Celia Poquita-Du, who published a HardwareX article on EmerSense(새 탭/창에서 열기) – a low-cost alternative for in situ monitoring in aquatic systems – that’s where Research Elements journals can really shine. “Publishing in this journal allows us to reach a wider audience, especially research groups with limited budgets, who can leverage our design files and detailed instructions to replicate cost-effective instrumentation.”

She adds: “Additionally, it provides an excellent opportunity to showcase a lesser-known aspect of scientific research, namely, the ability to create things.”

For Dr. Wendong Zhang, Assistant Professor and Extension Economist at Cornell University in the US, publishing data from a stock market analysis in Data in Brief(새 탭/창에서 열기) has transformed the way he thinks about this particular research object. “Before this submission, I typically stored and submitted the replication data and codes as an appendix or supplemental materials, which are generally ignored,” he explains.

“Publishing in this journal allowed me to think further about how to make the replication of my research easier for others. I have also been able to pass this knowledge on to my graduate students… a significant learning for them.”