Frequently Asked Questions
- General
- Submission, Peer Review, and Production
- Individual Subscriptions and Past Purchases
- Institutional (Library) Subscribers
General
What is changing?
The Society of Exploration Geophysicists is announcing a partnership with GeoScienceWorld, the nonprofit earth science collaborative, to simplify and improve its peer-review, production, and content-hosting processes. Details of these changes can be found below.
What is not changing?
SEG will continue to be the go-to source for papers covering geophysical research, exploration, and interpretations of Earth’s subsurface. We will remain an independent, society-led publisher, producing top-tier journals. There are no changes to the journals’ ownership, rights, subscription models, or editorial standards.
Why is this change necessary?
Since GEOPHYSICS first launched in 1936, SEG’s publications have been an important part of this organization and the broader field of geophysics. We want to ensure their long-term viability, both financially and competitively, within the scholarly publishing landscape. Today, the society relies on a complex mix of third-party vendors to produce the content and make it discoverable and readable. This change will simplify processes and allow SEG to better manage expenses while taking advantage of the shared resources of the GeoScienceWorld platform. For example, SEG’s content is currently available on both the GSW site and SEG’s own publications website. With today’s technology, it is no longer necessary to maintain two websites to effectively serve our various readerships. We can consolidate down to one site, thus saving resources and ensuring a uniform reader experience. Together, these changes will allow SEG to remain an independent, financially stable society-led publisher.
What is GeoScienceWorld and what role will they serve?
GeoScienceWorld (GSW) is a unique nonprofit collaborative representing more than 40 geoscience societies and publishers. SEG was one of seven societies that created the organization back in 2004, with the goal of aligning around a common need and leveraging shared resources to host and distribute the best geoscience research. Today, GSW hosts 53 journals and more than 2,000 ebooks on their platform. By working with GSW, SEG will take advantage of GSW’s existing partnerships and economies of scale to achieve better pricing. SEG will also benefit from GSW’s strategic input and support of the journals. Specifically, GSW will provide the journal submission platform, host the SEG content, and manage institutional subscription renewals. SEG’s expert volunteer editors will continue to oversee the peer review process with support from both SEG and GSW staff.
Submission, Peer Review, and Production
How is the peer review process changing?
The partnership with GSW means the SEG submission and peer review process will move from the ScholarOne platform to a new, streamlined platform managed by GSW. Kriyadocs is a unique end-to-end publishing ecosystem developed by Exeter Premedia Services. This web-based software streamlines the publishing process by incorporating peer review and production work in the same system. Their services have been widely adopted by major scientific publishers. The peer review process for SEG’s journals will be performed by the same reviewers and editors, but on the new platform. Journal articles will maintain the same look and feel, but article design, layout, author proofs, and author fees will be managed within the new system. In other words, the software is changing, but the process and output should remain largely unchanged.
When will the new submission portal launch?
The new submission sites launched in 2025, beginning first with The Leading Edge, followed by Interpretation, and then GEOPHYSICS. Training for each journal’s editors preceded each launch. All new journal submissions are now happening on the new platform.
What will happen to papers that have already been submitted to the old system on ScholarOne?
Papers that have already been submitted to the old ScholarOne sites will complete the peer-review process there. If accepted, production will pick up on the new Kriyadocs site, and authors will receive an email to view their proof. If papers still remain on the old ScholarOne sites they will be transitioned to the new Kriyadocs site where peer review will resume.
I am an SEG editor, reviewer, or author. Who can I contact with questions?
If you have questions about this transition, please contact us at [email protected].
Individual Subscriptions and Past Purchases
What is happening to the SEG Library?
GeoScienceWorld (GSW) began hosting The Leading Edge technical articles when GSW launched in 2004. GSW hosting of SEG content expanded over the years, and today, the GSW site already hosts SEG’s journals and most of its books. By 1 December, the remaining content in the SEG Library that is not already on the GSW site will be migrated over. When that process has been completed, the SEG Library on the Atypon platform will be decommissioned, and all user and subscriber access will take place via the GeoScienceWorld site.
How will I access my subscriptions?
After SEG’s content has been fully loaded onto the GeoScienceWorld site, members and SEG’s institutional subscribers will begin accessing their subscriptions there. The member login process will use the existing member email addresses and passwords and operate very similar to how it does today. Further details will be provided in the future, but we anticipate no disruption to access.
What will happen to the documents that I have “saved for offline reading”?
The new publication sites on GeoScienceWorld will continue to allow users to download and save journal articles, meeting papers, and books to the user’s device. However, each user’s individual library will not be migrated to the new GeoScienceWorld site. If you have previously purchased papers or book content or used the SEG Library to build a personal library, we recommend you download and save those purchases to your devices. To verify if you have previously made pay-per-view or one-off purchases in the SEG Library, we recommend you sign in at https://library.seg.org/ and click on My Account where your name appears in the top right of the screen. Your personal article and book access entitlements will show your previous purchases. Subscription access to SEG content, either your own or through your organization, will not be impacted and will continue to be provided on the GeoScienceWorld site.
Will I continue to have access to the Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics?
Yes. If you are an SEG or EEGS member and you previously accessed the Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics on the SEG Library, you will now access JEEG through the GeoScienceWorld site.
Will the GeoScienceWorld site allow for pay-per-view or one-off purchases of content?
Yes. Members and nonmembers will be able to make one-time purchases on the GeoScienceWorld site. Those purchases will provide 72-hour access to content on the site, during which time users will be able to download and save content to their device for later viewing.
Institutional (Library) Subscribers
What is happening to the SEG Library?
GeoScienceWorld (GSW) began hosting The Leading Edge technical articles when GSW launched in 2004. GSW hosting of SEG content expanded over the years, and today, the GSW site already hosts SEG’s journals and most of its books. By 1 December, the remaining content in the SEG Library that is not already on the GSW site will be migrated over. When that process has been completed, the SEG Library on the Atypon platform will be decommissioned, and all user and subscriber access will take place via the GeoScienceWorld site.
How will I access my subscriptions?
After SEG’s content has been fully loaded onto the GeoScienceWorld site, all of SEG’s institutional subscribers will begin accessing their subscriptions there. DOI links will be updated and redirects will be put in place to direct users to the new site. We anticipate no disruption to access.
Will proxy server access be impacted?
Silverchair, the platform provider for GeoScienceWorld, has achieved ISO 27001 certification, an important milestone in its commitment to information security. A migration to CloudFlare services is a crucial component of this certification. As a result, some institutional proxy IP ranges, especially those that are self-hosted, may need to be added to the allow list for CloudFlare, and GSW can assist you with this process. Please email your proxy IP ranges to [email protected] by 11 November 2025 in order to ensure uninterrupted access.
Who do institutional subscribers contact regarding institutional subscriptions?
GeoScienceWorld staff is responsible for renewal notices, invoicing, and all customer support for institutional subscribers. To reach customer service, you can continue to email [email protected], by phone at (800) 905-5832, or complete the Contact Us form at https://seg.org/contact/.
How should payments be made by institutional subscribers?
Invoices for institutional subscriptions prepared by GeoScienceWorld on or after 1 April 2025 will be paid to GeoScienceWorld on behalf of SEG. Please take note of the new payment instructions for all invoices.
How do I manage our institutional IP ranges on GeoScienceWorld?
GeoScienceWorld partners with theIPregistry.org to simplify the process of checking, monitoring, and updating the IP addresses used to authenticate access to content. Many libraries and organizations already use theIPRegistry.org to manage their IP addresses and broadcast changes to multiple publishers from a secure central location. If your institution already has an account with theIPRegistry.org, you do not need to do anything; GeoScienceWorld will pull the IP information already provided into its authentication system. If your institution is not currently registered with theIPRegistry.org, a free account can be created at https://app.theIPregistry.org. To communicate any IP address updates, simply log in to your account and add or delete the relevant IP address(es). The updates will be checked and verified before they are updated. You can learn more about theIPRegistry.org in their FAQ.
Will perpetual access to SEG content purchased by institutions continue to be honored?
Yes. This transition will not impact any subscription terms. If your institution previously made a purchase with SEG that provides perpetual access to content, you will continue to have access to that content, only now that access will be served through the GeoScienceWorld site rather than through the previous iteration of the SEG Library hosted by Atypon.