History
Where it all started
Frontiers was founded in 2007 by Henry Markram and Kamila Markram, two neuroscientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Henry and Kamila launched Frontiers with a vision to make science open, peer-review rigorous, transparent, and efficient and harness the power of technology to truly serve researchers’ needs.
Initially starting in the field of neuroscience, Frontiers now spans hundreds of academic disciplines and is one of the most cited and largest research publishers in the world.
Dr Kamila Markram speaks about open science and the vision behind Frontiers at Tedx Brussels, 2017.
The people behind Frontiers
2007. Frontiers is launched as a not-for-profit foundation, the relying on philanthropic donations to operate. The foundation continues to exist today, supporting purely philanthropic initiatives, including Frontiers for Young Minds and the Frontiers Planet Prize.
2008. Operations are taken over by Frontiers Media SA, a company created by the founders to enable long-term economic and operational sustainability. The gold open access business model is adopted.
The same year, Frontiers receives an investment from Kaltroco, the private holding company of the Koltes family. They strongly support the vision to make science open and their investment kick-starts the ensuing growth of Frontiers.
2013. The Holtzbrinck Publishing Group (at the time, owner of Nature Publishing Group and later majority shareholder of Springer Nature) makes an investment in Frontiers, enabling further growth of the open science vision. The founders remain the main shareholders of Frontiers. The two organizations run as independent businesses.
Our long-term commitment
The spirit behind Frontiers – shared by its founders, investors, employees, and editorial boards – is a long-term vision to make all of science open. We want to enable society to generate knowledge faster and more efficiently and ultimately accelerate innovation, health, and prosperity for all.
The fundamental measure of success will be the full transition to open access as the default method of publishing quality-controlled research findings. Thanks to the relentless work of the dedicated people who work at Frontiers, as well as the participation of our research communities, we are confident that together we can make the future of science fully open and accelerate the solutions we need to live healthy lives on a healthy planet.
Our timeline
2023
2023
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Milestones
489,000 published articles
2.8 billion article views and downloads
1.5 million total social media mentions and 235,000 total news mentions for articles
31 new journals launched in 2023
650+ institutional partners
9 national agreements in place
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Innovations
Frontiers Planet Prize
First international champions awarded in [Frontiers Planet Prize] (https://www.frontiersplanetprize.org/editions-first-edition) ceremony
Frontiers Forum Live 2023
Our first hybrid Forum with both live and virtual attendees, with keynotes from Prof Johan Rockstrom, Ban Ki-Moon, and Jane Goodall.
Flat-fee partnerships
We piloted our first open access flat fee agreements with partners in Europe and North America
Open Science Charter
Our open science charter is launched at COP 28, calling for all publicly funded research to be fully open by 2030.
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2022
2022
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Milestones
398,000 published articles
2.1 billion article views and downloads
1.2 million total social media mentions and 191,000 total news mentions for articles
49 new journals launched in 2022
658 institutional partners
8 national agreements in place with Austria, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Qatar, Switzerland, Sweden, and UK
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The Nobel Collection
10 Nobel Laureates
have collaborated on collections for Frontiers for Young Minds, covering science’s role in addressing today’s global challenges
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Innovations
Frontiers Planet Prize
The prize was launched on Earth Day 2022 to mobilize nations and the global community of scientists conducting research on the planetary boundaries.
AIRA update
We made results from our AI review assistant directly available to our editors and reviewers for the first time, informing and speeding up their own review.
Frontiers Discover
A new platform was launched, allowing review editors more control over the research they choose to review.
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2021
2021
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Milestones
285,000 published articles
1.5 billion article views and downloads
139 journals
27 new journals launched in 2021
555 institutional members
64 new members in 2021
7 new publishing partnerships
1,200 employees across 14 countries
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National deals
New open access publishing agreement with Luxembourg
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Awards
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The Nobel Collection
Five Nobel Prize winners
collaborate on a collection for Frontiers for Young Minds covering science’s role in addressing today’s global challenges
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Innovations
Artificial intelligence review assistant (AIRA) updates
New checks to validate the quality of the paper before it enters peer review, including image manipulation and research checks, as well as an improved scope classifier to recommend the most suited section and journal for manuscripts
Reviewer recommendation updates
Reviewer recommendations improved with an updated selection algorithm
Live chat in review forum
Latest support feature for our authors, editors, and reviewers during the peer review for selected journals
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2020
2020
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Milestones
200,000 articles published
1 billion article views and downloads
27 journals launched
77 new institutional members
New open access publishing agreement with Norway
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Innovations
Publishing partnerships program
Frontiers' publishing platform and expertise made available to societies and institutions, enabling their transition to open access
Artificial intelligence review assistant (AIRA) updates
New checks added to detect image manipulation and to evaluate if a manuscript has been submitted to the appropriate section and journal
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2019
2019
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Milestones
2,000 Research Topic ebooks published
New open access publishing agreement with the UK
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Events
3rd annual 100,000 USD Frontiers Spotlight Award
New office in Beijing opens
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Integrations
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Innovations
Website search
Search functionality rebuilt making it easier to find content – articles, collections, journals, and people – and helping to raise the visibility of research
Artificial intelligence review assistant (AIRA) updates
Improved reviewer suggestions and new automated checks to help assess article quality
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2018
2018
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Milestones
100,000 articles published
500 million article views and downloads
80,000 editorial board members
1,500 Research Topic ebooks published
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National deals
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Events
2nd annual 100,000 USD Frontiers Spotlight Award
4th annual Frontiers Forum
Frontiers data services workshop: Open Research Data to Support Sustainable Health Initiatives
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1 new integration
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5 new journals launched
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Innovations
AIRA - artificial intelligence review assistant
The next generation of peer review in which AI and machine learning enable more rigorous quality control and efficiency in the peer review
My Frontiers
A new editorial interface that helps authors, editors and reviewers to easily track the status of their manuscripts and assignments
New submission system
Streamlined and super-easy submission process for authors
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2017
2017
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Milestones
New office in Brussels opens
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Awards
European Union Prize for Women Innovators (Finalist)
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Events
1st annual 100,000 USD Frontiers Spotlight Award
Frontiers data services workshop: Data Services in an Open-Access World
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5 new journals launched
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Innovations
AI powered reviewer recommendations
Improved suggestions for editors on the editorial board experts most relevant to manuscripts
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2016
2016
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Milestones
50,000 articles published
1,000 Research Topic ebooks published
New office in London opens
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Awards
Stevie Entrepreneur of the Year (Gold Winner)
Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Finalist)
L’HEBDO Forum 100 (Top 100 personalities in Swiss Romandie)
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Events
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Innovations
Editorial contributions
Editorial roles showcased on Loop profiles, providing visibility and accreditation for editorial contributions
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2015
2015
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Milestones
30,000 articles published
500 Research Topic ebooks published
New office in Seattle opens
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Events
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Integrations
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3 new journals launched
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Innovations
Research Topic metrics
Article views and downloads on all articles aggregated at collection level
Frontiers' research network - Loop
Network and profile pages redesigned to maximise author impact and integrated with ORCID and other partners
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2013
2013
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Milestones
The Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, at the time owner of Nature Publishing Group and later majority shareholder of SpringerNature, makes an investment in Frontiers and a Holtzbrinck representative is appointed to the board of directors
10,000 articles published
New office in Madrid opens
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9 new journals launched
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Innovations
Frontiers for Young Minds
Free open access science journal for kids, reviewed by kids
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2014
2014
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Collaborative review forum (updates)
20,000 articles published
50,000 editorial board members
200 Research Topic ebooks published
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Awards
ALPSP Gold Award for Innovation in Publishing (Gold Winner)
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Integration
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12 new journals launched
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Innovations
Collaborative review forum
Improved online experience for reviewers and editors
Article pages
Newly designed pages with improved look, performance article
impact
Research Topics
Newly designed pages placing more focus on the researcher
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2012
2012
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Milestones
5,000 articles published
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2 new journals launched
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Innovations
Frontiers' research network
Profiles enriched with ability to connect with and stay up-to-date with researchers and content
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2011
2011
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Milestones
20,000 editorial board members
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Innovations
Author-level metrics
Article views and downloads on all articles aggregated at author level
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2010
2010
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Milestones
1,000 articles published
10,000 editorial board members
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11 new journals launched
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Innovations
Digital editorial office
A dedicated online cockpit for editors to manage their journals, enormously enhancing efficiency, oversight and quality control
Profile
Showcasing published work and career achievements for all authors, editors and reviewers and integrated into all articles and journal pages
Community platform
Profiles enriched with multimedia tools, including events and videos
Commenting functionality and post-publication review
On all articles and multimedia content
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2009
2009
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Innovations
Research Topics
Frontiers introduces the concept of Research Topics, themed article collections around trending research and organized by leading researchers
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2008
2008
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Milestones
Gold open access business model is adopted
The open access journal series
Frontiers in Neuroscience, opens for article submissions
First investment from Kaltroco
The private holding vehicle of the Koltes family, kick-starting growth. A Kaltroco representative is appointed to the board of directors
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Innovations
Online publishing platform
Frontiers builds an IT platform to manage author registration, article submissions, review, publication and evaluation. The Frontiers publishing platform includes, amongst other features:
Collaborative review forum
an innovative online platform for peer-review, engaging authors and reviewers in a structured online dialogue, and allowing for fast article processing
Article-level metrics
a new and objective way to measure the impact of research discoveries. Frontiers is the first publisher to launch quantitative article metrics based on views and downloads of articles
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2007
2007
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Milestones
First registered user during closed beta
17 articles are submitted to Frontiers in Neuroscience and published during closed beta
Frontiers is founded by Henry and Kamila Markram, two neuroscientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
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