We are celebrating publishing the 1000^th Element and I want to share why this is such an important milestone for us at Cambridge University Press.

The original aim of the Elements series was to provide a missing link in publishing options and offer greater flexibility in how scholars could communicate and present their work. It remains the only peer reviewed, Research Excellence Framework (REF)- and funder-friendly output at this length. Different communities have approached the Elements concepts in different ways – for example the Linguistics Elements are using the digital functionality more than any other community, whereas for others it has been the flexibility of length and model, sitting between books and journals, that has been important, notably in the series Elements in Structure and Dynamics of Complex Networks and Improving Quality and Safety in Healthcare.

We have been able to attract leading scholars to serve as Series Editors for Elements as they really see the need for the concept, that something in the publishing ecosystem has been missing and they want to be part of providing coverage for the gap. It also chimes with a growing general awareness that there is a lot of change in the publishing landscape and Series Editors want to be a positive part of that change.

Being able to attract top academics to be series editors and authors was the first benchmark to show that this model was going to add value. A great example of the quality of the authors publishing Elements is Cass Sunstein who is the NYT bestselling co-author of Nudge. His element on Behavioural Science and Public Policy has been highly downloaded (18,000) and has a high Altmetrics score of 624.

But for the format to really have impact, we needed to ensure we were achieving great usage across the series. For the first two weeks on publication, the digital version of each Element is available for free, which remains very popular and is a real selling point for authors. Of course, this free access also helps to kick start the impact, which over time we have seen grow and grow. We are also seeing an increasing number of authors choosing to make their Element fully Open Access.

The momentum created now across a range of subject areas means we have many exciting new series and individual Elements publishing this year. Some build on existing areas of strength, for example in political science and philosophy and in linguistics we’re particularly excited about a new series coming up on Sign Language.

Important upcoming individual Elements include one that Noam Chomsky has co-written ‘Merge: Its Structure and Use (Elements in Generative Syntax)’ which is due to publish later this year and another by William Labov, ‘Conversations with Strangers’. Forthcoming Elements under review include one written by a Nobel laureate.

The depth, breadth and nature of the Elements series testify to the value of this new format. Publishing the 1000^th Element will be a moment for us to reflect on how far this programme has come in a short period, but will also be an opportunity for us to look forwards to what more we can achieve.