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When we first launched F1000Research just over four years ago, we took the first step on a journey that we hope will change the way the results of scientific research are published by using a fully transparent post-publication peer review model. This model makes articles and the associated data fully open with minimal delay, aims to improve the peer review process, and enhance reproducibility and accountability. The model has evolved through tweaks and adjustments made in response to feedback from the research community, and in November last year, Wellcome demonstrated their confidence in this approach by launching Wellcome Open Research with us. I am delighted to announce today that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has agreed to join us on this journey by partnering with us to launch Gates Open Research using that same model of publication.

How will it work?

By launching Gates Open Research, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provide their grantees with an alternative to the traditional journal. Researchers funded (or co-funded) by the Gates Foundation will be able to publish their research outputs in a much faster and more transparent way. Gates Open Research will be fully compliant with the foundation’s open access policy. It will be fully integrated with Chronos, a service the Gates Foundation launched at the start of the year that simplifies the publishing process for its grantees by helping them to ensure that they adhere to the foundation’s open access policy and by providing a simple process for direct payment of open access publishing costs.

This will improve research integrity and reproducibility, enabling other researchers to reanalyse, replicate and reuse the data.

Grantees will be able to publish a broad range of outputs on Gates Open Research, from standard research articles and data sets to negative, confirmatory and null findings. Subjects covered will include all those funded by the Gates Foundation, including global health, infectious diseases, drug discovery, agriculture, and education. All data underpinning the published results must be included (or stored in an appropriate managed-access repository for those data where anonymity or security are a concern). This will improve research integrity and reproducibility, enabling other researchers to reanalyse, replicate and reuse the data.

Supporting the mission of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Gates Open Research will enable its grantees to rapidly disseminate their research without barrier or restriction, which is especially crucial during public health emergencies and crop losses caused by drought or pests.

The Gates Foundation envisions a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life and works to reduce inequities around the world. In the developing world, it focuses on improving health and alleviating extreme poverty. In the United States, the foundation supports programs related to education. Since 2000, the foundation has donated $36.7 billion to nonprofits.

Gates Open Research will enable its grantees to rapidly disseminate their research without barrier or restriction, which is especially crucial during public health emergencies and crop losses caused by drought or pests. The immediate publication and open invited post-publication peer review model of Gates Open Research will be based on that used in F1000Research.  The model enables authors to decide what research outputs they wish to publish and when; this will enable a much easier and painless process for researchers to share their findings, no matter how big or small, or how far-reaching the insights might be.

What next?

We have already seen from Wellcome Open Research that this publication model can work very well for funders and their grantees. Since its launch only three months ago, Wellcome Open Research has published 53 articles from over 350 authors, with 35 articles having passed peer review so far. We are confident that we can replicate this success with Gates Open Research. In the coming months, we will be working closely with colleagues at the Gates Foundation to ensure that we have a publication platform that serves the needs of the foundation and its grantees. We expect to launch the platform in the third quarter of this year. So, stay tuned here on the blog and on our social media channels or sign up for updates to follow us on our continuing journey.