Impact
PNAS is widely read by researchers, particularly those involved in basic sciences, around the world. PNAS Online receives over 21 million hits per month. The journal is notable for its policy of making research articles freely available online to everyone 6 months after publication (delayed open access), or immediately if authors have chosen the "open access" option (hybrid open access). Immediately free online access (without the 6-month delay) is available to 134 developing countries and for some categories of papers such as colloquia. Abstracts, tables of contents, and online supporting information are free. Anyone can sign up to receive free tables of contents by email.
Because PNAS is self-sustaining and receives no direct funding from the government or the National Academy of Sciences, the journal charges authors publication fees and subscription fees to offset the cost of the editorial and publication process.
According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal's 2011 impact factor is 9.681. PNAS is the second most cited scientific journal with 1,376,541 citations from 1999–2009 (the Journal of Biological Chemistry is the most cited journal over this period.).
PNAS has received occasional criticism for its practice (sometimes known as news embargo) of releasing papers to science journalists as much as a week before making them available to the general public—according to critics, this allows mainstream news outlets to misrepresent or exaggerate the implications of experimental findings before the scientific community is able to respond. Science writer Ed Yong, on the other hand, has claimed that the real problem is not embargoes themselves, but the press releases issued by research institutes and universities.
Read more about this topic: Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America
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