The way in which we consume information, entertainment, and media is changing. Today everybody can access their favorite song, book, or film online, and often for free. We read about events through social media and react in real time. We expect faster, shorter, and more accessible content. This is true for our news feeds, our friendship networks, and our medical journals. The European Urology family has embraced these changes. We hope we have adapted to deliver what our readers want and our patients need. The journals have been online and digital since 2013, our social media feeds have tens of thousands of followers, we work 24/7 to engage our readers in our papers, and we have embraced technology in every aspect of the editorial process.
Medical publishing is under pressure to change, to reflect the increasing digitalization of our world and to adapt to new business models. Fully (Gold) open-access journals have been around for at least a decade and were initially the remit of separate publishing houses. Driven by readers, funders of research, health care providers and patients, Gold Open Access journals are becoming popular and established, and so we address this with the launch of European Urology Open Science. Open Science is placed to adopt, embrace, and adapt new publishing models. As the name indicates, the journal is 100% open access and publishes high-quality science for all clinicians and individuals treating or caring for urological patients. Urologists are early adopters, whether for robotic surgery or social media such as Twitter, and so urologists will embrace this new way of publishing. We hope that Open Science will help to keep our specialty at the forefront of modern publishing and to keep up with trends observed in other media. Moreover, as European Urology Open Science content is free to read for everybody, we see opportunities for a completely new audience for our articles. We think that Open Science will broaden the attraction of urology as a specialty in general and for the European Urology family beyond our current readers.
At the same time, the open access philosophy assures broad distribution of research and the highest possible rate of true and complete reading of your work. This broad and unrestricted access to the research published in European Urology Open Science is made possible by shifting the costs for publishing from the reader to the author, a similar process to what has been observed in recent years for other media publishing sources such as news, music, and films. This approach is in line with Plan S, an initiative launched by Science Europe in 2018 with wide support, including from the European Commission. The plan requires scientists and researchers who benefit from state-funded research organizations and institutions to publish their work in open repositories or in journals that are available to all by 2021. We, and probably you as well, agree that access to the most recent research should not be limited to those who can afford it but to all who would like to read it. European Urology Open Science represents an important step in providing this broad availability.
Despite the unique nature of this edition, our ambition for this journal is similar to that for the European Urology family as a whole. We aim to use education and research to improve the care of our patients. The European Urology Open Science content will be high-quality urological research coming from all fields of our specialty, including oncology, functional urology, and basic research, delivering meaningful, practice-changing evidence or clinical audits. Articles published in Open Science will include original articles as well as video content, case series, trial protocols and up-to-date reviews with continuing medical education credits. The Open Science content will complement European Urology, European Urology Focus, and European Urology Oncology by offering broader appeal, open access publication, and slightly higher acceptance rates.
Our aim is to provide quick and high-quality peer review and deliver the fastest way to get new research results published and visible to readers. Articles will be published online in four editions per year and will be made available as soon as possible after acceptance of the proofs. Manuscripts can be directly submitted to our journal via https://www.editorialmanager.com/euros or may be offered this route from our family journals. Additional and detailed information about the journal can be found on our website at https://www.eu-openscience.europeanurology.com/
You can follow the journal on Twitter at @EurUrolOpen. We hope that you enjoy the journey and thank you for your support.
Conflicts of interest: Axel Bex has received research funding from the Dutch Cancer Foundation, the European Union, the EAU Research Foundation, and Pfizer; has served on advisory boards for Pfizer, Novartis, Ipsen, EUSA, and AstraZeneca; and has received lecture fees from Roche/Genentech, AstraZeneca, BMS, and Pfizer. James Catto has received research funding from the NIHR, MRC, Wellcome Trust, Yorkshire Cancer Research, Cancer Research UK, the European Union, the Urological Foundation, Astellas Europe Foundation, and a GlaxoSmithKline Clinician Scientist Award; has served on advisory boards for Orion Pharmaceuticals, Astellas, Abbott, Steba Biotech, Ferring, Janssen, and AstraZeneca; has received lecture fees from GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Nucleix, Roche Products Limited, and Merck Sharp & Dohme; serves as a consultant for AstraZeneca and Janssen; is a member of the NICE Centre for Clinical Practice and an Expert Adviser for NICE appraisals; and is a trustee of Fight Bladder Cancer. Silvia Proietti has received advisory board and lecture fees from Boston Scientific, Olympus, and Cook Medical, and consultancy fees from Quanta System. Guillaume Ploussard has received research funding from Association pour la Recherche contre le Cancer, Association Française d’Urologie, and Fonds d’Etudes et de Recherche du Corps Médical des Hôpitaux de Paris; and has served on advisory boards or as a consultant for Astellas, Ferring, Janssen, AstraZeneca, IPSEN, Takeda, Pierre Fabre, and Sanofi. Jochen Walz has received funding from the German Research Foundation, Norddeutsche Gesellschaft für Urologie, French Programme for Hospital Clinical Cancer Research, the Research Foundation of Quebec, and industry sponsoring from Hitachi, Supersonic, Exact Imaging, and ANNA/C-TRUS; has served on advisory boards for 3D-Biopsy, Blue Earth Diagnostics, Exact Imaging, Janssen, Light Point Medical, and Supersonic; and has received lecture fees from ANNA/C-TRUS, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Blue Earth Diagnostics, Hitachi, Ipsen, Janssen, Supersonic, and Takeda.