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How MSA Built an Interactive Journal—Without the Legacy Overhead
The Microscopy Society of America (MSA) launched Elemental Microscopy, a fully interactive, open-access journal powered by Curvenote. The journal is designed to meet the data-rich demands of microscopy, where researchers zoom into cells and materials at unprecedented detail. Much like satellite imagery, the detail only becomes meaningful when it’s connected to the broader map; microscopy needs both the close-up and the context. Elemental Microscopy gives researchers a transparent way to connect their findings with the underlying images, code, and data, while giving MSA full control over its connected publishing model.
Overview
The Microscopy Society of America (MSA) sought a publishing model that reflected the realities of modern microscopy: data-rich, image-heavy, and computational. Traditional systems were too static and costly, often locking live datasets, code, and imagery inside PDFs. With Curvenote, MSA launched Elemental Microscopy, a fully interactive, open-access journal where research publications remain alive and linked to the data and computation behind them.
Elemental Microscopy launched with no author fees, opening research to wider visibility and engagement, and giving MSA full control. Today, it stands as a growing example of what publishing can look like in a digital-first, open-science era.
“We are building Elemental Microscopy to be more than a conventional scientific journal. It’s a blueprint for publishing in the age of big data and open science: interactive, connected, and designed to provide deeper context, made possible with Curvenote.”
— Colin Ophus, Editor-in-Chief, Elemental Microscopy
The Challenge
MSA had a vision for a journal that reflected the realities of modern microscopy: computational, data-rich, and reproducible. But legacy publishing systems were stuck in the past: static formats, high Article Processing Charges (APCs), rigid workflows, and outdated technology. Live code, evolving datasets, and dynamic imagery were reduced to static snapshots in PDFs. And the alternatives often meant stitching together disparate tools with limited support, custom workflows, and little room for design or branding.
Traditional publishing models were too expensive, too slow—and too static
The Solution
MSA partnered with Curvenote to launch Elemental Microscopy from the ground up. Together, they created an interactive, open-access publishing model that:
- Streamlined Setup → Curvenote delivered the journal platform, themes, templates, and workflows quickly, giving MSA the base to expand and enable their editorial team and establish a long-term connected publishing program.
- Integrated workflows → By connecting with GitHub and computational notebooks, Curvenote allowed researchers to link data and computation directly into publications and give readers a single button to press to launch interactive notebooks within seconds.
- Sustainable costs → A predictable annual platform fee enabled MSA to launch without any author fees and explore a number of different sustainability models.
- Interactive engagement → Publications include live code, linked data, and repeatable analyses, allowing readers to explore findings in depth and engage more directly with microscopy research.
With Curvenote, the publication itself became connected and interactive, built to reflect the transparency and data-rich nature of microscopy.
The Impact
Elemental Microscopy turned static PDFs into interactive research objects with executable notebooks and linked data—underscoring Curvenote’s mission to move science beyond the PDF.
In the first year of Elemental Microscopy
- Over 30K automated editorial checks completed
- Published 9 research articles, with over 100 interactive figures
- Nearly 100 reads each day since launch per article
Beyond the numbers, MSA gained full editorial control over the journal’s direction, branding, policies, and business strategy.
With predictable costs—one flat platform fee to Curvenote—MSA could redirect resources toward author onboarding, strengthening editorial control, and encouraging submissions from early-career researchers.
What's Next
MSA plans to build on the success of Elemental Microscopy with initiatives that extend its reach and impact, including:
- Mentorship and training — creating a track to support early-career researchers in publishing their work.
- Innovating peer review — improving their publish–curate–review model that evolves preprints in-place and connects them directly to the version of record.
- Sharing best practices — publishing a framework for reproducible, connected publishing that other societies can adopt.
Takeaways
With Curvenote, MSA:
- Launched Elemental Microscopy — an interactive, open-access journal built in record time
- Made publishing interactive — linking articles with live code, data, and analysis
- Removed author fees for launch — replacing APCs with a sustainable, society-led model
- Scaled impact — automated editorial practices and high article engagement
- Gained full control — from editorial direction to business strategy
Ready to rethink publishing?