Exciting News from the SETAC Journals Program
Tamar Schlekat and Erin Nelson, SETAC
We’re excited to announce that the two esteemed SETAC journals – Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (ET&C) and Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (IEAM) – are being published by Oxford University Press as of January 2025.
SETAC founded ET&C in 1982, with Herb Ward serving as the first editor-in-chief. Initially published by Pergamon Press, ET&C was the society’s only journal until 2005, when IEAM was established, with Rick Wenning as editor-in-chief. Over the years, both journals have been published by several commercial publishers. However, at their core, ET&C and IEAM have always remained true to their identity as society journals. They were established as, and remain, a labor of love for the dedicated members who serve on editorial boards, the volunteers who contribute countless hours to the peer review process, and the many authors from our membership who continue to drive the journals’ success.
As SETAC grew and became global, so did the author pool. At the same time, the journal editors and governance members worked hard to diversify the editorial boards to ensure they served the membership all over the world. While authors were once required to pay “page charges” to support publication costs, SETAC successfully eliminated these fees in 2014, making publication more accessible to all members. More recently, in 2019, to further promote equity in SETAC publications, the journals adopted a double-anonymous review process.
Throughout the history of the journal program, the SETAC governance body – the SETAC World Council – has long insisted that the journals should be a place where our members can publish their work. Further, along with demand for equity in publishing, the SETAC journal program fully embraces Open Science, and SETAC has endorsed the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). DORA advocates for moving beyond journal impact factors and supports the removal of all re-use limitations on publications to encourage scholarly work. As such, while the journals accommodated the push for Open Access, by allowing our publisher to charge Open Access fees paid for by authors (with a discount for SETAC members), leaders were weary of a flip to be completely Open Access because that would discriminate against a portion of our members who could not afford those fees. SETAC leaders remained adamant that the journals remain accessible to our members whatever their means.
In late 2023, conscious that the contract with Wiley, a commercial publisher, was in its last year, SETAC took a bold step and decided to explore new publishing options. In doing so, the SETAC World Council prioritized finding a non-profit-oriented publisher who would be more closely aligned with SETAC’s values and the overarching philosophy of the SETAC journals program. After careful consideration, SETAC chose to partner with Oxford University Press. With Oxford, both journals will continue to offer the option of publishing under either a non-Open Access (standard) license or an Open Access (Creative Commons) license.
To ensure a seamless transition, SETAC journals began collaborating with Oxford in the summer of 2024. Together, they refined editorial styles, design templates, and strategies for improving online content and accessibility. The new websites for ET&C and IEAM are now live, with all content free to view through March 2025. We are thrilled about this partnership and look forward to collaborating with our new publisher, whose innovative ideas will help enhance the journals moving forward.
Authors’ contact: [email protected] and [email protected]