First synthesis report published in State of the Planet
27 September 2023
Today, we would like to announce the first publication of a research synthesis report in our new journal State of the Planet. The release of the 7th Copernicus Ocean State Report (OSR7), commissioned by the European Union Copernicus Marine Service and implemented by Mercator Ocean International, marks the launch of this new platform, dedicated to scientific synthesis reports and assessments on all subjects of the Earth and environmental sciences.
In a rapidly changing world, expert-based assessments of academic findings curated for a wider audience to support decision making, science communication, education, and funder mandates are becoming more and more widespread. Such reports represent extensive efforts by the scientific community offering timely, state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary insight into a selected facet of the Earth.
Timeliness and accuracy, however, should not come at the expense of academic exchange, transparency, and scientific excellence, especially for publications reaching beyond an academic audience. To facilitate this, State of the Planet offers:
- transparent peer-review by publishing all referee reports, editor comments, and versions of a manuscript alongside the version of record;
- author recognition by splitting large reports into individual chapters led by separate author teams, each with their own set of metadata and citation;
- widespread dissemination through all our partners and global indexing services;
- the entire publication infrastructure offered by Copernicus Publications, including data and code assets, article level metrics, and the extensive support of our team.
Transitioning large projects such as the Copernicus Ocean State Report to a new platform is never easy. The team at Copernicus Publications has made the process feel very smooth for the entire author team and editorial board. This change creates new opportunities for continuously improving international ocean reporting activity.
We are looking forward to the next few years and upcoming reports.
Karina von Schuckmann (project lead, OSR7)
We envision a platform bringing together environmental reporting initiatives and assessments from around the globe, publishing regular updates on key aspects of the Earths' system, coupled with common standards for transparent peer-review, as well as author and reviewer recognition.
You can find the growing list of projects at: https://www.state-of-the-planet.net/