With open access, WSB follows its original vision

When TWS’ journal the Wildlife Society Bulletin first prepared to make the move to an open-access publication, Editor-in-Chief Brett Collier admits he felt a bit uneasy.

“Having been engaged with TWS for over 25 years, I felt I was losing something I was comfortable with, and I am sure that many of you might have similar feelings,” Collier writes in a free-access editorial on the transition.

Change can be hard. And yet, Collier writes, “I see a suite of benefits for authors, and readers, of the Wildlife Society Bulletin.” Open access articles tend to have greater readership, and they’re open to a wider audience around the world, including nongovernmental organizations and state agencies.

The journal becomes fully open access in January, bringing it closer to fulfilling The Wildlife Society’s original vision for WSB to be an accessible journal created to reach a broad audience. Forty-six years ago when WSB first launched, none of this would have been possible. If it was, WSB would have been the journal to take the leap. That makes it all the more fitting now that it’s leading the charge for TWS now.

“Our early transition will allow our work to be easily accessed by the conservation interested public, which will increase our science impact across our vast set of stakeholders,” Collier writes.

Read the full editorial here.