Carinthia Nature Tech (Carinthia 2 Teil 3)

The periodical Carinthia has been published continuously for more than 200 years, making it the oldest journal in Austria. In 1891, the Natural Science Association of Carinthia, NWV, assumed the role of publishing the journal, which was then renamed to Carinthia II. Across its volumes, the journal explains the natural history of the Province of Carinthia and neighboring regions. Carinthia II is currently a three-part series: Carinthia II/ Part 1 in German features popular science articles intended for layperson audiences. Carinthia II/ Part 2 also in German features peer-reviewed scientific research. Carinthia II/ Part 3 was developed in 2023 through cooperation between NWV and Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, CUAS. The focus of Carinthia II/ Part 3 is specifically on use of state-of-the-art technologies that are used in nature conservation today, and because of this the journal is called Carinthia Nature Tech. In advance of the awarded FWF funding, two issues of Carinthia Nature Tech have already been published in English and provide worldwide exposure to research activities occurring in the region. FWF funding will accelerate the development of Carinthia Nature Tech and allow it to meet todays standards for open access. The immense popularity of the internet has made printed academic journals increasingly obsolete. The initiative cOAlition S, launched in 2018, is supported by the European Research Council and the European Commission and provides a framework for dissemination of open access research. Online journals are trending toward providing open access peer-refereed journal articles, meaning that anyone in the world can freely download articles for non-commercial purposes. In the EU, all articles supported by publicly funded research must be available in open access form. Recognizing these trends, NWV and CUAS decided to release issues of Carinthia Nature Tech in online and open access form. With funding support from FWF, Carinthia Nature Tech is now positioned to meet the requirements of cOAlition S. In particular, FWF funding will support article indexation and archiving allowing research articles to be found easily online, and Impact Factor allowing visibility of the journal within the research community. Funding will further enable the implementation of a web-based editorial management system, improving transparency and enabling an efficient peer review process. FWF funding will support marketing and events, and it will allow promotion of the journal at conferences. In these ways, FWF funding is critical to allow Carinthia Nature Tech to become a leader in academic publishing. Regionally-based researchers and research projects will be supported as a showcase of the excellence that Carinthia and the surrounding region have to offer to the worldwide scientific community.